August 2011 Visa Bulletin – Forward Movement in EB-2 India/China Continues, Other Workers and FB2A; FB1 Remains Unchanged

The U.S. State Department just released the August 2011 Visa Bulletin which is the eleventh Visa Bulletin for the FY2011 fiscal year.    The major headline in the upcoming month’s bulletin is the continued significant forward movement in EB-2 China, EB-2 India,  Other Workers and FB2A categories.

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

Below is a summary of the August 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 while EB-2 China and EB-2 India both move forward by almost five (5) weeks to April 15, 2007.
• EB-3 ROW and EB-3 Philippines move forward by three (3) weeks to November 1 , 2005, EB-3 China  moves forward by only one (1) week to July 8, 2004, while EB-3 India  moves forward by one (1) month to June 1, 2002.  EB-3 Mexico moves forward by over five (5) months to November 1, 2005.
• The “other worker” category remains unchanged (again) at  April 22, 2003 for China.  It moves forward by over five (5) months to May 1, 2005 for ROW, Mexico and Philippines.  It moves forward by one  (1) month to June 1, 2002 for India .

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

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

• FB1 remains unchanged across all regions at May 1, 2004 for ROW, China and India, at March 8, 1993 for Mexico and at April 15, 1996 for Philippines.
• FB2A moves forward by four (4) months to July 22, 2008 for ROW, China, India, and Philippines.  FB2A Mexico moves forward by four and a half (4.5) months to June 1, 2008.
• FB2B ROW, China and India remains unchanged at July 1, 2003.  FB2B Mexico moves forward by only one (1) week to October 1, 1992.  FB2B Philippines moves forward by two (2) months to December 1, 2000.

Slow Movement  for Employment-based Petitions; EB-2 India and EB-2 China Movement Slows Down; Substantial Forward Movement for FB2A; No Movement in FB1

The slow forward movement across many employment categories continues, as expected.   Although we see continued movement in EB-2 India and China, the movement this month is slowing down after some substantial movement over the past couple of months.   The EB-2 India and EB-2 China movement has been due to the carryover of visa numbers from the EB-1 category (also see note below).    Positive news is that EB-3 India has  moved forward by one  month (compared to only one week for the past several months).

We continue to see the FB2A category move forward, after the significant retrogression over the past several months.  We wish to reiterate that the forward movement in FB2A is expected to slow down over the next  few months, according to indications from the State Department.   Unfortunately, due to strong demand, FB1 category remains unchanged, for a fourth month in a row, after it retrogressed by 8 months during the April 2011 Visa Bulletin.  This is due to heavy demand in the FB1 category which is expected to continue and further lack of movement (or backward movement) in FB1 is possible.

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