May 2009 Visa Bulletin
Posted Apr 10, 2009
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The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has issued the Visa Bulletin for May 2009, which announced EB3 unavailability for all countries of chargeability. The EB2 cutoff dates for China and India had been February 15, 2005 and February 15, 2004, respectively, and have not changed for May 2009. The EB3 visa unavailability is due to high demand for immigrant visa numbers and, particularly, a large number of cases with older priority dates. The most recent DOS Visa Bulletin chart 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 continues to be current for all countries, except India and China. The cutoff dates for India and China did not change from the prior month. The cutoff date for India remains as February 15, 2004. China's cutoff date is still February 15, 2005.
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Employment-Based, Third Preference (EB3)
This category will be unavailable for all countries, from as late as May 1, 2009 until September 30, 2009.
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The very limited EB3 "other worker" category will also be unavailable for all countries for the remainder of FY2009.
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Employment-Based Fourth / Fifth / Religious Workers and Targeted Employment
These categories are all current.
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Explanation
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The April 2009 Visa Bulletin explains that the demand for visa numbers for adjustment of status cases from USCIS remains extremely high. Thus, the annual quota for EB3 visa category is expected to be reached in April 2009. In response to this high demand, the DOS has made the EB3 visa category for all countries unavailable for May 2009 and it is expected to remain unavailable for the rest of FY2009. EB3 visas will become available again, subject to a priority date cutoff on October 1, 2009.