May 2013 Visa Bulletin – EB-2 India Remains Unchanged at September 1, 2004; Significant Forward Movement in EB-3

The U.S. State Department has just released the May 2013 Visa Bulletin which is the eighth Visa Bulletin for the FY2013 fiscal year.   The major headline in the upcoming month’s Visa Bulletin is the lack of movement (again) in EB-2 India and the significant forward movement in the EB-3 category for most countries (with the exception of India and Philippines).

Summary of the May 2013 Visa Bulletin – Employment-Based (EB)

Below is a summary of the May 2013 Visa Bulletin with respect to employment-based petitions:

• EB-1 remains current across the board.
• EB-2 for ROW, Mexico and Philippines are all current.    EB-2 India remains unchanged, again, at (the severely retrogressed) September 1, 2004.   EB-2 China moves forward by six (6) weeks to May 15, 2008.
• EB-3 ROW and EB-3 Mexico move forward by five (5) months to December 1, 2007.  EB-3 Philippines moves forward by only one (1) week to September 15, 2006, EB-3 China  moves forward by a little over five (5)  months to December 1, 2007, while EB-3 India  moves forward by only two (2) weeks to December 22, 2002.
• The “other worker” category moves forward by five (5) months for ROW and Mexico to December 1, 2007.  It moves forward by one (1) week to September 15, 2006 for Philippines and moves forward by one (1) week at September 1, 2003 for China.  It moves forward by two (2) weeks for India to December 22, 2002.

Summary of the May 2013 Visa Bulletin – Family-Based (FB)

Below is a summary of the May 2013 Visa Bulletin with respect to family-based petitions:

• FB-1 continues to move forward.  FB-1 ROW, China and India all move forward by three (3) weeks to April 1, 2006.   FB-1 Mexico moves forward by only one (1) week to August 8, 1993 and FB-1 Philippines moves forward by almost four (4) months to June 1, 1999.
• FB-2A moves forward by two and a half (2.5) months to March 1, 2011  for ROW, China, India, and Philippines.  FB-2A Mexico moves forward by two (2) months to February 1, 2011.
• FB-2B ROW, China and India all move forward by five (5) weeks to May 15, 2005.  FB-2B Mexico moves forward by nine (9) weeks to May 1, 1993 while FB-2B Philippines moves forward by seven (7) weeks to September 8, 2002.

Again: No Progress in EB-2 India – Confirms Our Expectations for a Very Slow Forward Movement in the Future?

Unfortunately, the May 2013 Visa Bulletin does not bring any news for us to report in connection with EB-2 India.   Yes, we realize we are repeating what we have been reporting over the past several months, but again this month the EB-2 India cutoff dates remain unchanged.     We are well into the second half of the fiscal year, and the continued lack of any movement in EB-2 India this month is a strong indication that there is simply too high of a demand in the EB-2 India category and that the Department of State would move the cutoff dates forward very slowly in order to allow USCIS to approve the (high) number of EB-2 cases filed and pending.

The May 2013 Visa Bulletin brings some notable forward movement in the EB-3 category for most countries.    According to the State Department, this has been done in an attempt to generate demand so that the annual numerical limits may be fully utilized, and such movements may continue for the next few months.   Once the number of EB-3 filings increases to show that the available visa numbers for the year will  be utilized, the EB-3 forward movement would slow down or stop.

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 May 2013 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.