The Department of State (DOS) released its November 2014 Visa Bulletin, showing the availability of employment-based immigrant visa categories for the month of November. Following the publication of the November 2014 Visa Bulletin, Charles (“Charlie”) Oppenheim, Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division, U.S. Department of State provided further insight on the latest number and future projections.
As Mr. Oppenheim predicted, the availability for EB-2 visa for India has retrogressed significantly, by more than four years to February 15, 2005, as a result of increased demand. In last month’s visa bulletin, the priority date for the EB-2 visa availability for India was May 01, 2009. No forward movement is expected for the India EB-2 category in the coming months.
The DOS forecasts that the worldwide EB-2 visa availability will remain current and that the EB-2 availability for China will advance by three to five weeks in the coming months.
The availability for the EB-5 China category became current in October 2014, but Mr. Oppenheim predicted that it will become necessary to establish a cut-off date, possibly as soon as May 2015.
The DOS expects rapid forward movement in the EB-3 China category, which will likely result in increased demand. The DOS forecasts a one to two week movement per month in the EB-3 India Category. EB-3 Mexico is expected to remain at the worldwide cut-off date. EB-3 Philippines is also expected to remain at the worldwide cut-off date, but a roll-back may be necessary later in the fiscal year should demand increase significantly.
In the Family-Based preference categories, modest forward movement of a few weeks to 2 months per month is possible. These predictions are based on information available in October 2014 and will be updated in the coming months upon new information regarding supply and demand for visas in the Family-Based categories.
Please note, the above projections are not guaranteed. The projections only indicate what is likely to happen during the next few months based on the pattern of current applicant demands.