February 2009 Visa Bulletin : EB2 Forward Movement
Posted Jan 23, 2009
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Released by the U.S. Department of State on January 13, 2009, the February 2009 Visa Bulletin shows about six months of forward movement in EB2 for India and China. There is a bit of forward movement in some of the EB3 chargeability areas, but none for India. The other employment-based (EB) categories that were previously "current" remain current. The latest Visa Bulletin chart can always be found on MurthyDotCom.
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Summary of Visa Bulletin
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Employment-Based, First Preference (EB1)
This category is current for all countries of chargeability.
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Employment-Based, Second Preference (EB2)
This category continues to be current for all countries of chargeability, with the exception of India and China. The good news, however, is that India's cutoff date moved forward by six months. China's moved forward by almost the same amount. The cutoff date for India moved to January 1, 2004. China reflects a cutoff date of January 1, 2005.
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Employment-Based, Third Preference (EB3)
This category has cutoff dates for all countries of chargeability. The cutoff date for countries under the "All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed," as well as for the Philippines, is stagnant, at May 1, 2005. India also remained unchanged, at October 15, 2001. The cutoff date for Mexico advanced by almost five months, to April 1, 2003. China also progressed to October 1, 2002.
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EB3 Other Workers
This category remains at March 15, 2003 for the "All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed" and the Philippines. Other countries of chargeability saw retrogression, with China moving back to October 1, 2002 and India and Mexico to October 15, 2001.
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Employment-Based, Fourth / Fifth / Religious Workers, and Targeted Employment
The EB4, EB5, Religious Workers, and the targeted employment categories are all current.
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Explanation
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The February 2009 Visa Bulletin did not provide any explanation for the changes in the cutoff dates. The Visa Bulletin is always a reflection of the supply of visa numbers, and is an estimate based upon the level of demand in each category. The EB2 forward movement is good news for some, as it will open a window of at least one month for additional I-485 filings, as well as approvals of pending I-485s with priority dates that are current under the February 2009 Visa Bulletin. We will continue to update MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers with the latest Visa Bulletin information.