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The Department of State’s (“DOS”) December 2015 Visa Bulletin showed minor movements in the employment-based visa categories.  The most significant movement was in the Indian EB-2 category which advanced  by 10 months to June 1, 2007.  All other employment-based categories showed slow advances by few weeks, except for Mainland China EB-3 and Other Worker categories…

On September 28, 2015, several highly-skilled immigrant workers from India and China filed a federal class action lawsuit in the State of Washington against the U.S. Department of State (“DOS”) and U.S. Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) over revisions to the October 2015 Visa Bulletin (Revised Visa Bulletin) that impacted them adversely.  On September 30,…

Charles Oppenheim, chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division of the U.S. Department of State, held his monthly meeting with AILA to shed light on the data in the recently-released September Visa Bulletin.  Among the highlights of meeting are the following:

  1. China/India EB-2 Retrogression.  As GT discussed previously here, EB-2 for India

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The Department of State’s (DOS) September Visa Bulletin shows the results of heavy demand in the employment-based visa categories. The most dramatic movement is the retrogression for Chinese and Indian nationals seeking EB-2 classification. Both categories will retrogress to Jan. 1, 2006, with China EB-2 moving backwards seven years and India EB-2 moving backwards two years from last month’s bulletin.

As we have often seen, EB-2’s loss is EB-3’s gain, as Indian and Chinese nationals under the EB-3 category saw forward movement of more than six months to Dec. 22, 2004.  Visa numbers for Filipino nationals seeking EB-3 classification are no longer unavailable as those with priority dates of Dec. 22, 2004 or earlier may apply.Continue Reading September Visa Bulletin: “See-saw” Trend between EB-2 and EB-3 India and China Continues

Charles Oppenheim, chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division of the U.S. Department of State, held his monthly meeting with AILA to shed light on the data in the recently released August Visa Bulletin.  Among the highlights of meeting are the following:

1. China EB-3 Retrogression.  The August Visa Bulletin shows that the EB-3 China category will have a cut-off date of June 1, 2004, a retrogression of seven years.  One reason for this retrogression is that earlier in the year the EB-3 China category had advanced which generated sufficient demand to bring the overall number within the allowable annual limit.  According to Charlie, the good news is that this category will progress forward in the beginning of the new fiscal year to a 2010 or maybe even a 2011 cut-off date.
Continue Reading Monthly ‘Check-In’ with Charlie Oppenheim

The July 2015 Visa Bulletin has been released and, as always, shortly after its release, on June 12, 2015, AILA “checked in” with Charles (“Charlie”) Oppenheim, chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division, U.S. Department of State, to obtain his analysis of current trends and future projections for the various immigrant preference categories. The…

The U.S. Department of State (DOS) recently released the May 2015 Visa Bulletin in which significant movement should be noted in the employment-based classification for nationals of the Philippines in the EB-3 category, for Indian nationals in the EB-2 category, and for Chinese nationals in the EB-2 and EB-5 categories.

Specifically, the Visa Bulletin shows major retrogression in the EB-3 category (both “skilled workers” and “other workers” subcategories) for Filipino nationals, as it moved from Oct. 1, 2014, to July 1, 2007, creating a backlog of over seven years. As such, it is highly recommended that eligible Filipino EB-3 applicants who are “current” but whose priority date will be retrogressed on May, 1, 2015, to immediately file their I-485, Application to Adjust Status.Continue Reading May 2015 Visa Bulletin Updates

The Department of State’s (DOS) January Visa Bulletin brings some New Years cheer for China and “All Other Countries” designations indicating that that the EB-3 subcategory for professionals and skilled workers will advance by nine months for China, from June 1, 2010 to March 1, 2011, and seven months for “All Other Countries,” from November 1, 2012 to June 1, 2013.  Unfortunately, the EB-3 category for India continues to wallow in a mire of retrogression advancing only two weeks, from December 1, 2003 to December 15, 2003.

The EB-2 category offers little in the way of good reading with China advancing only a month, from January 1, 2010 to February 1, 2010, and India seeing no change from last month’s Bulletin, staying put at February 15, 2005. 
Continue Reading January 2015 Visa Bulletin: Some Good News, But Executive Action Benefits Cannot Come Soon Enough

As an update to our prior post, Mr. Charlie Oppenheim, chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division of the U.S. Department of State (DOS), recently gave another update on employment-based permanent residence and retrogression.

According to visa usage trends, it is speculated by Mr. Oppenheim that significant backward movement will occur for several immigrant visa categories in the upcoming DOS Visa Bulletins. Mr. Oppenheim predicts that the EB-2 category for Indian nationals will experience significant visa retrogression by the end of the year, potentially creating backlogs as far back to 2005.
Continue Reading Backward Movement Confirmed Again for Several Immigrant Visa Categories