April 2011 Visa Bulletin – Slow Movement in EB; No Movement (Again) for EB-2 India; FB1 Retrogresses; FB2A Moves Forward

The U.S. State Department just released the April 2011 Visa Bulletin which is the seventh Visa Bulletin for the FY2011 fiscal year.    The major headline in the upcoming month’s bulletin is the slow forward movement in FB2A (after few significant backward movements), the significant retrogression in the FB1 preference visa numbers, accompanied by the continued slow forward movement across the employment-based categories.

Summary of the April 2011 Visa Bulletin – Employment-Based (EB)

Below is a summary of the April 2011 Visa Bulletin with respect to employment-based petitions:

• EB-1 remains current across the board.
• EB-2 ROW (Rest of World), Mexico and Philippines remain current, EB-2 China moves forward by two (2) weeks to July 22, 2006, while EB-2 India remains (again, for eight consecutive months) unchanged at May 8, 2006.
• EB-3 ROW and EB-3 Philippines move forward by three (3) weeks to July 22, 2005, EB-3 China  moves forward by five (5) weeks to March 1, 2004, while EB-3 India  moves forward by three (3) weeks to April 8, 2002.  EB-3 Mexico moves forward by four (4) months to May 8, 2004.
• The “other worker” category remains unchanged at  April 22, 2003 for China.  It moves forward by five (5) weeks to July 22, 2003 for ROW, Mexico and Philippines.  It moves forward by three (3) weeks to April 8, 2002 for India .

Summary of the April 2011 Visa Bulletin – Family-Based (FB)

Below is a summary of the April 2011 Visa Bulletin with respect to family-based petitions:

• FB1 ROW, China and India move backwards by eight (8) months to May 1, 2004.  FB1 Mexico moves forward by two (2) weeks to February 15, 1993.  FB1 Philippines moves forward by three and a half (3.5) months to April 1, 1995.
• FB2A moves forward by four (4) months to April 1, 2007 for ROW, China, India, and Philippines.  FB2A Mexico moves forward by six (6) months to July 1, 2006.
• FB2B ROW, China and India remain unchanged at April 15, 2003.  FB2B Mexico also remains unchanged at July 15, 1992.  FB2B FB2B Philippines moves forward by four (2) months to December 1, 1999.

Slow Movement  for Employment-based Petitions, Retrogression (for some) or Minor Movement in Family-based Priority Dates

The slow forward movement across many employment categories continues, as expected, although the movement in the employment-based categories may be very disappointing to many, especially in the the EB-2 India category which did not move at all this month, for a 8 consecutive months.  The slightly positive news is that EB-3 India moved forward by three weeks (in continuation of last month’s forward movement of three weeks).

We have finally seen the FB2A category move forward by four months, after the significant retrogression over the past few months.  We wish to reiterate that the forward movement in FB2A is expected to be slow over the next  few months, according to indications from the State Department.   Unfortunately, due to strong demand, the FB1 category retrogresses by 8 months for many regions.   This is due to heavy demand in the FB1 category which is expected to continue and further backward movements in FB1 are possible.

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