May 2008 Visa Bulletin : Summary and Analysis
Posted Apr 18, 2008
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The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has issued the May 2008 Visa Bulletin. It contains continued good news for some EB2 applicants from India and China. It also reflects significant forward movement in the EB3 worldwide category. Categories that previously were current remain current. While the focus of this article is the employment-based categories, which affect many MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers, information on both the family and employment-based categories is always available on our website at http://www.murthy.com/visadate.html.
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Summary of Visa Bulletin for EB Categories
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Employment-Based, First Preference (EB1)
The EB1 category remains current for all countries of chargeability.
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Employment-Based, Second Preference (EB2)
EB2 categories for worldwide, Mexico, and the Philippines remain current. The cutoff dates for India and China moved forward by a month, with a new cutoff date of January 1, 2004 established for both countries of chargeability.
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Employment-Based, Third Preference (EB3)
The EB3 worldwide category cutoff date moved forward by eight months to March 1, 2006. India's cutoff date moved slightly to November 1, 2001. China also inched forward to March 22, 2003. Mexico and the Philippines jumped forward more significantly to July 1, 2002 and March 1, 2006, respectively.
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Employment-Based, Fourth Preference (EB4) / Fifth Preference (EB5) / Religious Workers and Targeted Employment
These categories are all current.
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Explanation by DOS
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The DOS's explanation for the ongoing forward movement in the EB categories is simply an effort to permit the USCIS to review and process substantial numbers of Adjustment-of-Status (I-485) cases at this time to avoid any unused immigrant visa numbers. Since the cutoff dates are based upon anticipated usage of visa numbers, primarily by the USCIS, it may become necessary for the DOS to make changes to the cutoff dates in the last quarter of the fiscal year, depending upon the accuracy of the predictions of the USCIS visa number usage that are driving the forward movement of the cutoff dates in certain categories.
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We at the Murthy Law Firm will continue to report and analyze the monthly Visa Bulletin from the U.S. Department of State and the issues to which is relates. We understand how vital this information is to our readers.