Visa Bulletin : July 2006
Posted Jun 23, 2006
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The U.S. Department of State (DOS) released the July 2006 Visa Bulletin on June 13, 2005. [The most recent Visa Bulletin chart is always available on MurthyDotCom, for the benefit of our readers.] Notable were the family categories, with retrogression in Family 1st preference (unmarried sons / daughters of U.S. citizens), as well as Family 2A (spouses and children of lawful permanent residents). The employment categories showed little or no forward movement in most categories. Both the family retrogression and the slowed movement in employment cutoff dates are due to the fact that the end of the fiscal year is approaching, and, thus, the end of the annual supply of immigrant visa numbers.
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All employment-based categories that are current in June 2006 will continue to be current in July 2006. There is one additional current category, EB1 for nationals of China. Unfortunately, the EB1 and EB2 categories for nationals of India remain stagnant. This is the second month that EB2 has not moved forward for nationals of India, as the cutoff date remains at January 1, 2003. The DOS has indicated that there may be very little movement in any category for the remainder of the fiscal year (until September 30, 2006).
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The dates in the June Visa Bulletin apply through June 30, 2006. Therefore, those family-based cases that will retrogress in July, but show availability in June, can be filed until the end of this month to reach the USCIS on or before June 30, 2006. Conversely, the limited employment cases that show visa number availability in July 2006, but not June 2006, must wait until July 1, 2006, before the I-485 can be filed at the USCIS or a consular processing case can be completed at a U.S. consulate abroad.
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EB1
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With China now listed as "current" for July 2006, only India has a cutoff date in the Employment-Based, First Preference (EB1) category. For Indian nationals, this date remains at the point established in June 2006, with a cutoff date of January 1, 2006.
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EB2
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India and China continue to be the only countries of chargeability that have cutoff dates in the Employment-Based, Second Preference (EB2) category. All other countries of chargeability remain current. As with last month, India's cutoff date remains January 1, 2003. The cutoff date for China has moved by eight months, to March 1, 2005.
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EB3
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As before, the Employment-Based, Third Preference (EB3) category has substantially backlogged cutoff dates for every country of chargeability. There was forward movement across the category, with the exception of Mexico. The movement was limited, however, and the dates remain at various points in 2001 for all of EB3.
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The "worldwide," China, and Philippines EB3 categories all moved forward by three months, to October 1, 2001. The EB3 category, for nationals of India, inched forward by seven days, to April 15, 2001. Mexico did not move forward at all and remains at April 22, 2001.
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Schedule A Workers
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Schedule A Workers remain current.
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Other Workers
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Other Workers reached the allowable annual limit last month. Therefore, it became unavailable in June 2006 and will remain unavailable for the rest of fiscal year (FY) 2006. FY2007 starts on October 1, 2006.
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Family-Based Cases
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As noted, the cutoff dates for Family 1st and Family 2A retrogressed. Family 1st for worldwide, China, and India moved backwards by one year and four months, from April 22, 2001 to January 1, 2000. This is frustrating to many, as the family numbers in this category remained on April 22, 2001 for many months prior to this retrogression.
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The Family 2A cutoff date moved back by almost a year and a half, to September 1, 1999, for worldwide, China, India, and the Philippines. Mexico is also at September 1, 1999, but this represents a forward movement of two months for Mexico. The remaining family categories showed minute forward movement, with limited exception where there was no forward movement in the cutoff dates.
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Conclusion
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The patterns reported above, once again, show that there is a need for additional visa numbers both in the family and employment categories.