June 2016 Visa Bulletin

Visa Bulletin – June 2016: Severe Retrogression for EB-2 and EB-3 India and China

The June 2016 Visa Bulletin has been released by the Department of State. USCIS has not yet said whether the filing dates can be relied upon for employment-based and family-based adjustment of status. It should announce that within the week.

Some categories of note:

The F-2A category, spouses and children of permanent residents, is about 18 months behind current for all chargeabilities. The filing dates are about 7 months behind.

EB-2 India is at July 1, 2009. EB-3 India is July 1, 2005. Both of those dates are for filing dates. The final action dates for both India and China EB-2 suffered severe retrogression. EB-2 India rolled back all of the way to October 1, 2004. EB-2 China reverted back to January 1, 2010. For India, that represents a setback of nearly 4 years and it is nearly 2 years for China. EB-3 China suffered a setback of over 3 years. The predictions for the remainder of the Fiscal Year (which does not begin anew until October 1) are dire for those two categories, as well. China is not expected to see movement through EB-2 or EB-3 for the remainder of the fiscal year. EB-2 and EB-3 India are expected to progress slowly for the remainder of the fiscal year.

In about two weeks, there will be a check in with the State Department’s Charlie Oppenheimer, where he will make predictions about the Visa Bulletin for July 2016.