As Bill Stock mentioned in a client alert last month, the Department of State has halted the dramatic acceleration of India and China’s EB-2 priority dates which we had observed throughout much of 2011. Instead, the Visa Control Office of the State Department predicted significant retrogression in these two categories, walking back priority dates approximately three years from May 1, 2010 to August 2007.
In response to questions from the immigration law community last week, Department of State Chief of Immigrant Visa Control and Reporting Charlie Oppenheim provided an updated forecast of employment-based visa date movements for the months of May through July:
|
Employment-Based Priority Dates (May-July 2012)
|
|
Preference Category
|
Projected Movement from April 2012 Visa Bulletin
|
| First |
Expected to stay current |
| Second – Worldwide |
Expected to stay current |
| Second – India & China |
Retrogression to August 15, 2007 (now May 1, 2010) |
| Third –Worldwide |
Three to five weeks forward (now April 8, 2006) |
| Third – India |
Two weeks forward (now September 1, 2002) |
| Third – China |
Up to six weeks forward (now March 1, 2005) |
| Fourth |
Expected to stay current |
| Fifth |
Expected to stay current |
Mr. Oppenheim has confirmed that, effective March 23, 2012, no further EB-2 visas will be authorized for China-mainland born and India applicants with priority dates of August 15, 2007 or later. Mr. Oppenheim stated that visa applicants processing in April at consulates abroad will still receive visas, as those numbers were allocated before the cut-off date was established.
We have recommended that any EB-2 adjustment applicant with a priority date before March 2010 file immediately, so that his or her application is received at USCIS on or before April 30, 2012. USCIS will continue to accept for processing those applications for adjustment of status for individuals with priority dates prior to the date established in the April 2012 Visa Bulletin until the end of this month. Those cases with priority dates of August 15, 2007 or later will be forwarded to and held by Visa Control at the Department of State in a “pending” file until new visas are available on October 1, 2012, the beginning of the 2013 fiscal year. Applicants will still be eligible for employment authorization and advance parole travel authorization. The May Visa Bulletin is expected to address the EB-2 movement.
Contact your Klasko Law attorney if you have specific questions regarding eligibility for filing of adjustment of status and other benefits.
