November Visa Bulletin: Modest advancement in EB-2, EB-3 categories

Priority cutoff dates will advance modestly in the China EB-2 and India EB-2 categories, according to the November Visa Bulletin.  Priority cutoff dates will also advance modestly in the China EB-3 and Philippines EB-3 categories. The advancement comes after more significant advancement across a number of categories in the October Visa Bulletin, the first of the federal fiscal year.

Key movements in cutoff dates: 

• China EB-2 will advance by three weeks to June 15, 2013, while China EB-3 will advance by one month to Feb. 1, 2014.
• India EB-2 will advance by three weeks to Oct. 8, 2008, while India EB-3 will remain set at Oct. 15, 2006.
• Philippines EB-3 will advance by six weeks to Jan. 15, 2016.

Additional notes: All EB-1 will remain current. All EB-2 categories other than China and India will remain current. The EB-3 categories for El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, Mexico and All Other Chargeability Areas will also remain current.

Application Final Action Dates for Employment-Based Preference Cases:

The State Department also released its Dates for Filing chart for November 2017. Applicants seeking to file for adjustment of status are reminded that the Dates for Filing chart does not take effect unless U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services confirms that it does via a web posting in the next week or so. BAL will update clients once the State Department confirms whether the Dates for Filing chart can be used in November.

This alert has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice group. For additional information, please contact BerryApplemanLeiden@bal.com.

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