The State Department has released its May Visa Bulletin. As we predicted, India and China Eb-2 moved forward for the month:
| Employment- Based | All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed | CHINA- mainland born | INDIA | MEXICO | PHILIPPINES |
| 1st | C | C | C | C | C |
| 2nd | C | 01AUG06 | 01JUL06 | C | C |
| 3rd | 22AUG05 | 15APR04 | 15APR02 | 08SEP04 | 22AUG05 |
| Other Workers | 08SEP03 | 22APR03 | 15APR02 | 08SEP03 | 08SEP03 |
| 4th | C | C | C | C | C |
| Certain Religious Workers | C | C | C | C | C |
| 5th Targeted Employment Areas/ Regional Centers and Private Programs |
C | C | C | C | C |
The State Department said it would be able to release an extra 12,000 visas for processing in EB-2 this year because of USCIS reporting low demand (and low approval rates) in EB-1. The “extra” numbers that “spill down” to EB-2 from EB-1, plus the regular ones (about 2300 each for India and China), should get the priority dates to late 2006, and perhaps to January 2007, by September of 2011. Continue to monitor the Visa Bulletin each month for updates.
