June 2016 Visa Bulletin

Posted on May 9, 2016 by Arjun Mishra

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.

Predicting Immigrant Visas

Posted on February 17, 2016 by Arjun Mishra

Predicting Immigrant Visas: Check in with Charlie Oppenheim

Charlie Oppenheim is infamous in immigration circles for being the man at Department of State for providing predictions on how the immigrant visa categories change month to month. Because of the limited number of immigrant visas for each preference, category, and chargeability, there are long waits for popular classifications, ie India EB-2 and EB-3, China EB-2 and EB-3, and just about every family-based preference. Here are some interesting and useful tidbits from the check in with Mr. Oppenheim.

Charlie believes that the final action dates for the EB-3 China category have the potential to advance five months each month. He believes the EB-2 China category will continue its quick monthly advance.

EB-2 India is one of the most backlogged categories and it only moved one month and a half from February to March. Charlie anticipates movement of 3 months for the final action date in the future.

March 2016 Visa Bulletin

Posted on February 9, 2016 by Arjun Mishra

March 2016 Visa Bulletin Released

The Visa Bulletin for March was just released by the Department of State. EB-2 India moved forward ten weeks after taking a quantum leap in the February 2016 Bulletin. EB-2 China jumped ahead by five months in comparison to last month. EB-3 China, India, and Philippines remain far behind. Many Family Based categories remain far behind currency, but the F2A category is doing very well at June 15, 2015. F2A is for Permanent Residents who file for their spouses and unmarried children under 21 years of age.

Whereas a US Citizen can file for his spouse or unmarried child under 21 years of age and consider them to be an immediate relative (meaning that an immigrant visa is immediately available and consular processing is not required abroad), a US Permanent Resident must go through consular processing abroad and wait for currency date. An approved family-based petition in the F2A category from before June 15, 2015 means that it is available for an immigrant visa. This could be a compelling reason for a Permanent Resident who is eligible for US Citizenship to become a citizen and file for her spouse or unmarried child.