February 2007 Visa Bulletin : No Changes in EB Categories Posted Jan 19, 2007 ©MurthyDotCom The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has issued the Visa Bulletin for February 2007. There was absolutely no movement of dates in any of the employment-based (EB) categories. These remain exactly the same as the January 2007 Visa Bulletin, with one exception. As predicted, the separate Schedule A count has been eliminated. The good news, if we look at the glass as being half full rather than half empty, is that there continues to be no further retrogression. Categories that were previously current remain current. As a quick reference, the contents of the Visa Bulletin are summarized below for MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers.  ©MurthyDotCom Employment-Based First Preference (EB1) ©MurthyDotCom This category remains current for all countries of chargeability for EB1s. ©MurthyDotCom Employment-Based Second Preference (EB2) ©MurthyDotCom All countries except China and India remain current in the EB2 category. China's cutoff date is April 22, 2005. India continues to have a cutoff date of January 8, 2003. ©MurthyDotCom Employment-Based Third Preference (EB3) ©MurthyDotCom All countries continue to have cutoff dates in the EB3 category. India has a cutoff date of May 8, 2001 and Mexico has a May 15, 2001 cutoff date. For China, the Philippines, and worldwide the cutoff date is August 1, 2002. ©MurthyDotCom Other Workers ©MurthyDotCom The Other Worker category continues to have an October 1, 2001 cutoff date. ©MurthyDotCom Schedule A Workers ©MurthyDotCom The Schedule A category is no longer in the Visa Bulletin. As explained in earlier articles, this does not mean the Schedule A itself has been eliminated. It means that the special allocation of Schedule A numbers has been depleted. Schedule A cases are now counted in with the regular EB3 cases. ©MurthyDotCom Employment-Based Fourth / Fifth Preference (EB4/EB5) ©MurthyDotCom The EB4/EB5, religious workers and the targeted employment categories, are all current. ©MurthyDotCom Translators ©MurthyDotCom This new EB4 subcategory for Iraqi or Afghani nationals who have worked with the U.S. Armed Forces as translators for at least 12 months continues to have a September 18, 2006 cutoff. ©MurthyDotCom Future Predictions of the Movement of Priority Dates ©MurthyDotCom There was no prediction in this Visa Bulletin for the impending directions of EB cutoff dates. Since cutoff dates are based upon demand, however, that demand is likely to remain heavy - particularly in light of efforts by the U.S. Department of Labor Backlog Processing Centers to complete all pending pre-PERM labor certification cases within the next seven months (by October 1, 2007). The completion of the old labor certifications generates demand for visa numbers, as the employees / beneficiaries are allowed to move to the next stages of their green card cases. Copyright © 2007, MURTHY LAW FIRM. All Rights Reserved
	Disclaimer : The information provided at this site is of a general nature and may not apply to any particular set of facts or under all circumstances. It should not be construed as legal advice and does not constitute an engagement of the Murthy Law Firm or establish an attorney-client relationship. Copyright : Documents from this site may be printed for personal use as long as the copyright notices are included on the print-outs and the documents are not modified or altered.