November 2006 Visa Bulletin : Mixed News for EB Immigration
Posted Oct 20, 2006
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The U.S. Department of State (DOS) recently released the November 2006 Visa Bulletin. While there was forward movement in some areas for employment-based (EB) cases, other areas remained stagnant. The most significant change, as expected, was the establishment of a cutoff date for Schedule A cases. The November 2006 Visa Bulletin dates will be effective as of November 1, 2006.
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Employment-Based First Preference
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The Employment-Based First Preference (EB1) category, which includes persons of Extraordinary Ability, Outstanding Professors / Researchers, and Multinational Executive Transferees, remains current for all countries of chargeability. This is a limited category, explained in more detail in our September 15, 2006 MurthyBulletin article, Can I Benefit Under the "Current" EB1 Priority Dates?, available on MurthyDotCom.
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Employment-Based Second Preference
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The Employment-Based Second Preference (EB2) category remains current for all countries except mainland China and India. For persons born in India, the cutoff date moved ahead six and a half months, to January 1, 2003. For persons born in mainland China, the cutoff date moved ahead 14 days to April 15, 2005. For Indian nationals, this brings the numbers back to where they were in July 2006, before they became unavailable at the end of FY2006. This is good news for EB2 Indian nationals with priority dates before January 1, 2003. It should not be assumed that EB2 numbers will continue to move forward in large increments in the future, however.
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Employment-Based Third Preference
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The Employment-Based Third Preference (EB3) category moved ahead to July 1, 2002 for all countries except India and Mexico. The cutoff date for Mexico moved ahead by seven days, to May 8, 2001. The cutoff date in EB3 for persons born in India did not move at all and remains at April 22, 2001.
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Other Workers
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The Other Worker category moved ahead for all countries by four months, to May 1, 2001.
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Schedule A Workers
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The Schedule A category retrogressed worldwide, to October 1, 2005. The DOS has indicated that it expects this category to disappear in December 2006, since the full 50,000 visas set aside for this category are projected to be completely depleted by the end of November 2006. Once this occurs, the Schedule A cases will again be counted as part of the regular EB3 category, absent a change in the law.
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Future Trends
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The DOS establishes cutoff dates based on demand for immigrant visa numbers. With these latest moves forward, the numbers of persons who are eligible for immigrant visa numbers are expected to increase dramatically. As these individuals seek benefits, the DOS will evaluate whether this move forward will use all of the available immigrant visa numbers for the fiscal year, or if the numbers in a particular category can move forward to accommodate additional applicants. The DOS believes it is likely that some categories will stop moving or perhaps retrogress further during this fiscal year, as more cases are processed. We strongly recommend, therefore, that persons who can proceed with their cases do so as early as possible to avoid being affected by any retrogression later in the fiscal year.