Visa Bulletin : April 2006
Posted Mar 17, 2006
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The U.S. Department of State (DOS) recently released the April 2006 Visa Bulletin. [The most recent Visa Bulletin is always available on MurthyDotCom.] At the Murthy Law Firm, we review and analyze the Visa Bulletin carefully, and we know the same is true of many of our readers. To summarize the changes between the Visa Bulletins for March and April 2006, the news is good for those who are in the employment-based (EB) first (EB1) and second preference (EB2) categories. The dates in those categories have moved forward for India and China. The rest of the world remains current for EB1 and EB2. The news is not nearly as good for the virtually stagnant EB third preference (EB3) category.
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The cutoff dates listed in the April Visa Bulletin become available as of April 1, 2006. Those readers who are unfamiliar with the Visa Bulletin and retrogression should read some of our earlier articles on this topic, including our February 17, 2006 article, Visa Bulletin : March 2006, available on MurthyDotCom.
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Future Predictions
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No predictions for the future were made in the April Visa Bulletin with respect to employment-based visa numbers. In the Visa Bulletin for March 2006, the DOS noted that they were able to move cutoff dates forward in fairly large increments because the demand for immigrant visa numbers was lower than anticipated. They warned, however, that this trend may not continue. Since the movement of the visa numbers is driven by demand, we believe that much of this is contingent upon the movement of labor certification cases through the U.S. Department of Labor Backlog Processing Centers (BPCs) and the processing and approval of I-485s by the USCIS.
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EB1
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As before, all countries besides China and India are current in the Employment-Based, First Preference (EB1) category. India's cutoff date moved forward by six months, to January 1, 2005. China's cutoff date also moved forward by six months, to January 1, 2004. Thus, the trend of significant forward EB1 movement for both India and China continued in April 2006.
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EB2
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Like EB1, there are only cutoff dates for China and India in the Employment-Based, Second Preference (EB2) category. All other countries are current in EB2. Both India and China continued to see significant forward movement of the cutoff dates. Even with forward movement, however, many cases are far from having the priority dates available or current. The cutoff dates both for India and China moved forward by six months. India's date moved to July 1, 2002. China's date moved ahead to January 1, 2003.
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EB3
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The Employment-Based, Third Preference (EB3) category has cutoff dates for all countries. The exception is those cases categorized under Schedule A that remain current due to statutory intervention. There was no change in dates at all for the "worldwide" cutoff or for China and the Philippines. These cutoffs remain at May 1, 2001. India and Mexico saw slight forward movement. India moved forward by a month, to February 1, 2001; Mexico by a few days, to April 8, 2001.
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Schedule A Workers
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Schedule A Workers remain current.
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Other Workers
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The Other Worker category continues to be stagnant for all countries. The cutoff date remains at October 1, 2001. This category is for semi-skilled and unskilled positions requiring fewer than two years' training or experience.
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Conclusion
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The fact that no cutoff dates have been established in EB2, except for India and China, is an encouraging note for people from other parts of the world. The continued forward movement in EB2 is also positive, although it is unclear how long that will continue. If it slows, it will still leave many people without a current priority date.
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People in EB3 essentially remain where they were last month, in March 2006. Most of the EB3 world is at May 1, 2001, right at the LIFE Act 245(i) cutoff date when so many cases were filed. India and Mexico are slightly further back and are inching forward through the LIFE Act 245(i) cases. This bubble of 245(i) cases was filed in the first few months of 2001 and ended with numerous filings on or just before the April 30, 2001 deadline.
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As we at the Murthy Law Firm have said before, legislative change is needed to address this situation. While some significant forward movement has occurred, this, in part, is because the dates were set back extremely far initially. If the BPCs increase their LC certifications, there also will be greater demand for immigrant visa numbers. This, in turn, will impact the rate of forward movement. We will continue to monitor this important immigration matter to update MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers.