November 2010 Visa Bulletin

Posted on October 21, 2010 by VISANOW

The November 2010 Visa Bulletin shows some measured progress, signaling that Fiscal Year 2011 may be one of relatively slow advancement.  In contrast, the priority date for spouses and children of lawful permanent residents confirms speculation that the category may become current relatively soon.

In the employment-based Visa Bulletin, every category showed at least a week or two of progress except for the EB second preference category for Indian nationals.  This is the third month in a row where the cut-off date for that category has held at 05/08/2006.  This most likely indicates that the government is still working to clear out the backlog of green card applications for those whose priority dates are now current.

Meanwhile, the other categories show small gains:

• Chinese nationals in the EB-2 category moved ahead by 10 days, to 06/01/2010.
• In the EB third preference category, all countries except India and Mexico moved forward by 2 weeks.  China now stands at 11/22/2003; and all other countries, including the Philippines, 01/22/2005.

Indian nationals saw a small move forward by 1 week to 01/22/2002, and Mexicans moved by 9 days to 05/01/2001.

• The EB-3 Other Workers category also finally saw some progress.  All nationals except Indians and Mexicans moved ahead by 10 days, to 04/01/2003.  Indian Other Workers moved ahead by 1 week to 01/22/2002 (continuing to parallel the progress of the EB-3 professional category), and Mexicans moved ahead by 9 days to 05/01/2001.

Recent updates by Charles Oppenheim, Chief of the Immigrant Visa Control and Reporting Division at the U.S. Department of State (DOS), also give us further insight into the DOS’s view into how far dates will advance this year.  Current speculations have EB-2 for India and China and most of the EB-3 categories moving at about the rate of 1 to 2 weeks per bulletin this fiscal year.  They anticipate Mexico will reach the year 2002.  Mr. Oppenheimer also repeated his call for legislative action to deal with the situation for Indian nationals in EB-3.

In comparison, the family-based visa bulletin continues to advance at a fairly good pace.  Most categories moved ahead by 1 or 2 months:

• In the FB first preference category, Mexicans and Filipinos nationals received the benefit for once, advancing 1 week to 12/22/1992 and 1 month to 04/01/1997 respectively.  All other countries remained at the same cutoff dates in the previous bulletin.
• FB-2A continues to advance rapidly in defiance of conventional wisdom.  All countries advanced by 2 months to 06/01/2010, except for Mexico which advanced by 2 months to 03/01/2010.  Mr. Oppenheimer confirmed that at this pace, this category could be current sometime early next year.
• FB-2B also advanced by 2 months for nationals of all countries, except Mexico and the Philippines, to 06/01/2005.  Mexico remained at 06/22/1992 and the Philippines stayed at 09/01/2002.
• Similarly, FB-3 advanced by 1 month for nationals of all countries, except Mexico and the Philippines, to 06/01/2002.  Mexico remained at 10/22/1992 and the Philippines stayed at 03/01/1995.
• All nationals except Filipinos saw advancements in the FB-4 category.  Mexicans moved ahead by 1 week to 12/15/1995 and all other countries moved ahead by 1 month to 01/01/2002.

It is definitely good news that the family-based priority dates are advancing well, but perhaps the best news is the fact that the backlog of cases for spouses of green card holders is nearly cleared.  It helps to alleviate the concerns of those newly adjusted permanent residents who fear their families cannot file their following-to-join green card application in time.  This could have tremendous implications in terms of opportunities for foreign nationals to seek permanent residency through family-based sponsorship.

Employment-Based Visa Bulletin for November 2010

Legend

• C = current as there is no waiting period necessary to file for permanent residency
• U = unavailable as visa supply has been exhausted for the remainder of fiscal year, or legislation creating the category has expired
• Date indicated = cut-off date that indicates a backlog; if the priority date (date the labor certification or I-140 was filed, depending on the type of case) is BEFORE the date listed, one may apply for permanent residency

Employment-Based Preferences

• First: Priority Workers
• Second:  Members of the Professions Holding Advanced Degrees or Persons of Exceptional Ability
• Third:  Skilled Workers, Professionals, and Other Workers
• Fourth:  Certain Special Immigrants
• Fifth:  Employment Creation

Legend

• C = current as there is no waiting period necessary to file for permanent residency
• U = unavailable as visa supply has been exhausted for the remainder of fiscal year, or legislation creating the category has expired
• Date indicated = cut-off date that indicates a backlog; if the priority date (date the I-130 was filed) is BEFOREthe date listed, one may apply for permanent residency

Family-Based Preferences

• First: Unmarried sons and daughters (i.e., children over 21 years of age) of U.S. citizens
• 2A:  Spouses and children (i.e., unmarried children under 21 years of age) of lawful permanent residents
• 2B:  Unmarried sons and daughters (i.e., children over 21 years of age) of lawful permanent residents
• Third:  Married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens
• Fourth:  Brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens

By: Emily C.

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