April Visa Bulletin and Guidance from Charlie Oppenheim
The April Visa Bulletin was released last week as was some additional guidance from Charlie Oppenheim of the Department of State. I will go through the highlights below.
Family Based Immigration
F1 (Unmarried Sons and Daughters of US Citizens): Most countries moved from June 1, 2010 to October 15, 2010, a fairly big jump. The exceptions were Mexico (which moved about 1 week to May 22, 1995) and the Philippines (which moved forward one month to January 15, 2006)
F2A (Spouses and children of Permanent Residents): Most countries moved forward 1 month to June 8, 2015. The only exception was Mexico, which also moved one month forward to May 22, 2015.
F2B (Unmarried Sons and Daughters of Permanent Residents): Most countries moved forward 1 month to September 15, 2010. The only exceptions were Mexico (which moved forward 1 month to December 22, 1995) and the Philippines (which moved forward 1.5 months to June 15, 20016).
F3 (Married Sons and Daughters of US Citizens): Most countries moved forward about 3 weeks to May 15, 2005. The only exceptions were Mexico (which moved forward about 2 weeks to January 8, 1995) and the Philippines (which moved forward about 1 week to September 15, 1994.
F4 (Siblings of US Citizens): Most countries moved forward about 2.5 months to May 8, 2004. India moved forward only about 3 weeks to August 15, 2003. Mexico moved forward about 2 weeks to June 15, 1997. The Philippines moved forward about 1 month to September 8, 1993.
Charlie Oppenheim Guidance: FB-1, FB-2 and FB-3 are expected to continue to advance at the same pace as this month in the future because of the low rate at which applicants are becoming documentarily qualified. The FB-4 advancement in April was sufficient to meet Charlie’s target for this category for the next two to three months. This allowed the overall desired allocation level through April to be met, and should prevent excessive allocations once demand in the other categories increases those desired levels. No further advancement of FB-4 Worldwide is expected until July.
Employment Based Immigration
EB1: Current for all countries (but see guidance below for India and China)
EB2: Current for most countries. China moved forward about 1 month to January 15, 2013 and India moved forward about 3 weeks to June 22, 2008.
Eb3: Worldwide numbers moved forward about two months to February 15, 2017. China moved forward about 5 months to August 15, 2014. India moved forward 2 days to March 22, 2005 and the Philippines moved forward about 1 month to September 15, 2012.
Charlie Oppenheim Guidance:
EB-1: India has already used over 9,000 immigration visas in this category (its per country limit is 2,800) and China has used over 4,500. There will be backlogs for both of these countries in this category in the near future.
EB-3: At some point Charlie expects there to be more demand for China EB-3 because of the downgrades from EB-2s. However, to date, this demand has not materialized. This is why he moved the final action date forward. You may notice that the Date for Filing for EB-2 China is actually several months behind the Final Action Dates. As USCIS is using the Final Action Dates, this date is irrelevant. EB-3 Worldwide will continue to remain about 2 months behind being current.
Please remember, as always, this blog does not offer legal advice. If you need legal advice, consult with a lawyer instead of a blog. Thank you.