March 2009 Visa Bulletin : EB2 Inches Forward
Posted Feb 13, 2009
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The Visa Bulletin for March 2009 has been released by the U.S. Department of State (DOS). The EB2 cutoff dates for India and China continued to move forward. There is also some forward movement in EB3 for China and Mexico. The EB categories that were previously "current" remain current. The chart with dates from the most recent Visa Bulletin is always available 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 remains current for all countries except for India and China, which show forward movement again, with cutoff dates moving by approximately one-and-a-half months for both countries. The cutoff date for India moved to February 15, 2004. China has a cutoff date of February 15, 2005.
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Employment-Based, Third Preference (EB3)
This category has cutoff dates for all countries of chargeability. There were no changes in the cutoff dates, other than for China and Mexico. The cutoff date for "all chargeability areas except those listed" remains at May 1, 2005; the Philippines has the same cutoff date. India also remains unchanged, backlogged at October 15, 2001. The cutoff date for Mexico has advanced by over four months, to August 15, 2003. China also has moved forward slightly to October 22, 2002.
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EB3 Other Workers
This very limited category remains at March 15, 2003 for "all chargeability areas except those listed" and the Philippines. Mexico has moved forward considerably, to March 15, 2003. China has moved forward slightly, to October 22, 2002. India is unchanged, at October 15, 2001.
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Employment-Based Fourth / Fifth / Religious Workers and Targeted Employment
These categories are all current. However, absent an extension, the non-minister, special immigrant religious worker program is set to expire on March 6, 2009. The same is true of the investor pilot program.
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Explanation
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The Visa Bulletin does not provide explanations for the changes in the cutoff dates. The continued forward movement of EB2 is good news for some MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers. As we always explain, the cutoff dates are related to the supply of visa numbers, which is limited by Congress. This is not a matter of slow case processing or other delay-related issues, as is a common misunderstanding. The cutoff dates are an estimate of the available visa numbers, based upon the demand for those numbers. The dates discussed above pertain to the month of March 2009. We at the Murthy Law Firm will continue to update our readers on Visa Bulletin matters.