July 2012 Visa Bulletin – EB-2 ROW Cutoff Date of January 1, 2009 Introduced; EB-2 India and China Remain Unavailable

The U.S. State Department has just released the July 2012 Visa Bulletin which is the tenth Visa Bulletin for the FY2012 fiscal year.    The major headline in the upcoming month’s bulletin is the introduction of a cutoff date for the EB-2 ROW category and the continued unavailability in the EB-2 India and China categories (which is expected to continue for the next two months).

Summary of the July 2012 Visa Bulletin – Employment-Based (EB)

Below is a summary of the July 2012 Visa Bulletin with respect to employment-based petitions:

• EB-1 remains current across the board.
• EB-2 for ROW, Mexico and Philippines now have a cutoff date of January 1, 2009.    EB-2 India and EB-2 China remain unavailable.
• EB-3 ROW and EB-3 Mexico move forward by six (6) weeks to July 22, 2006.  EB-3 Philippines moves forward by two (2) weeks to June 8, 2006, EB-3 China  moves forward by six (6) weeks to September 22, 2005, while EB-3 India  moves forward by only one (1) week to September 22, 2002.
• The “other worker” category moves forward (finally!) by seven (7) weeks to June 15, 2003 for China.  It moves forward by six (6) weeks for ROW and Mexico to July 22, 2006, while Philippines moves forward by two (2) weeks to June 8, 2006.  It also moves forward by one (1) week for India to September 22, 2002.

Summary of the July 2012 Visa Bulletin – Family-Based (FB)

Below is a summary of the July 2012 Visa Bulletin with respect to family-based petitions:

• FB-1 moves forward (again, for tenth consecutive month).  FB-1 ROW, China and India all move forward by two (2) weeks to July 8, 2005.   FB-1 Mexico moves forward by three (3) weeks to June 8, 1993 and FB-1 Philippines moves forward by two (2) weeks to July 15, 1997.
• FB-2A moves forward by six (6) weeks to February 15, 2010 for ROW, China, India, and Philippines.  FB-2A Mexico moves forward by seven (7) weeks to February 1, 2010.
• FB-2B ROW, China and India move forward by two (2) weeks to May 1, 2004.  FB-2B Mexico remains unchanged to January 1, 1992 and FB-2B Philippines moves forward by two (2) weeks to December 22, 2001.

Cutoff Date for EB-2 ROW Caused by High Demand In Filings

The introduction of a cutoff date for the EB-2 Rest of the World (ROW) category would come as a surprise to many.   The Department of State has given earlier indications and we have warned of the possibility of cutoff dates in the EB-2 ROW category.   The new cutoff date of January 1, 2009 for EB-2 ROW sets this category more than three years back.  This aggressive retrogression and the note provided in the July 2012 Visa Bulletin suggest that the demand of EB-2 visas has been greater and we should not anticipate any relief in this category for the remainder of the fiscal year (until October 1st).   In fact, the Department of State has warned that they may even need to make the EB-2 ROW category unavailable for one or both of the remaining Visa Bulletins for this fiscal year.

EB-2 India and China Remains Unavailable;  Will Remain for the Remainder of the Fiscal Year

We invite you to subscribe to our free weekly immigration newsletter to receive timely updates on this and related topics.  We also invite you to contact us if our office can be of any assistance in your immigration matters or you have any questions or comments about the July 2012 Visa Bulletin.  Finally, if you already haven’t, please consider our Visa Bulletin Predictions tool which provides personalized predictions and charts helping you understand when a particular priority date may become current and what are the movement patterns.