August 2015 Visa Bulletin: EB3 India Advances Four Months

The U.S. Department of State (DOS) August 2015 Visa Bulletin contains some unexpected changes in the employment-based, third preference (EB3) category. EB3 India advances by four months, while EB3 China retrogresses severely.

Employment-Based, First, Fourth, and Fifth Preferences (EB1, EB4, & EB5)

The EB1 and EB4 categories continue to be current for all countries. The same is true of the EB5 category, with the exception of the cutoff date of September 1, 2013 for Chinese nationals.

Employment-Based, Second Preference (EB2)

The EB2 category remains current, with the exception of India and China. The EB2 China cutoff date advances by two months, to December 15, 2013. The EB2 India cutoff date is unchanged, at October 1, 2008. This is consistent with recent predictions made by the DOS.

Employment-Based, Third Preference (EB3)

The cutoff date for EB3 worldwide and EB3 Mexico is July 15, 2015. This is an advancement of more than three months. Surprisingly, EB3 India also moves forward, with the cutoff date advancing by four months, to June 1, 2004. While this category is still extremely backlogged, this is a significant and highly unusual advancement. The EB3 India category typically moves by no more than one or two weeks each month. The June 1, 2004 cutoff date is shared by the Philippines, which had been completely unavailable in July.

EB3 China also moves to a cutoff date of June 1, 2004. However, unlike the above positive development for India and the Philippines, this new date for China is the result of the cutoff date retrogressing by more than six years.

Employment-Based, Third Preference (EB3) Other Workers

With the exception of China, the cutoff dates in the EB3 other worker category match those in the general EB3 category. EB3 other workers for China retrogresses to January 1, 2004.

Conclusion and Explanation

The DOS did not share any insights into the reasons for the EB3 advancement for India in the August 2015 Visa Bulletin. The visa bulletin does clarify the reason for the EB3 China retrogression, however, noting that this is the result of a large increase in demand. Subscribe to the free MurthyBulletin to remain informed on any developments related to the monthly visa bulletin.

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