February 2007 Visa Bulletin : No Changes in EB Categories
Posted Jan 19, 2007
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The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has issued the Visa Bulletin for February 2007. There was absolutely no movement of dates in any of the employment-based (EB) categories. These remain exactly the same as the January 2007 Visa Bulletin, with one exception. As predicted, the separate Schedule A count has been eliminated. The good news, if we look at the glass as being half full rather than half empty, is that there continues to be no further retrogression. Categories that were previously current remain current. As a quick reference, the contents of the Visa Bulletin are summarized below for MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers.
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Employment-Based First Preference (EB1)
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This category remains current for all countries of chargeability for EB1s.
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Employment-Based Second Preference (EB2)
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All countries except China and India remain current in the EB2 category. China's cutoff date is April 22, 2005. India continues to have a cutoff date of January 8, 2003.
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Employment-Based Third Preference (EB3)
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All countries continue to have cutoff dates in the EB3 category. India has a cutoff date of May 8, 2001 and Mexico has a May 15, 2001 cutoff date. For China, the Philippines, and worldwide the cutoff date is August 1, 2002.
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Other Workers
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The Other Worker category continues to have an October 1, 2001 cutoff date.
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Schedule A Workers
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The Schedule A category is no longer in the Visa Bulletin. As explained in earlier articles, this does not mean the Schedule A itself has been eliminated. It means that the special allocation of Schedule A numbers has been depleted. Schedule A cases are now counted in with the regular EB3 cases.
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Employment-Based Fourth / Fifth Preference (EB4/EB5)
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The EB4/EB5, religious workers and the targeted employment categories, are all current.
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Translators
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This new EB4 subcategory for Iraqi or Afghani nationals who have worked with the U.S. Armed Forces as translators for at least 12 months continues to have a September 18, 2006 cutoff.
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Future Predictions of the Movement of Priority Dates
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There was no prediction in this Visa Bulletin for the impending directions of EB cutoff dates. Since cutoff dates are based upon demand, however, that demand is likely to remain heavy - particularly in light of efforts by the U.S. Department of Labor Backlog Processing Centers to complete all pending pre-PERM labor certification cases within the next seven months (by October 1, 2007). The completion of the old labor certifications generates demand for visa numbers, as the employees / beneficiaries are allowed to move to the next stages of their green card cases.