SEPTEMBER 2013 VISA BULLETIN: MASSIVE PROGRESSION OF DATES

The Department of State has just released the September 2013 Visa Bulletin.   There has been a dramatic jump for India EB-2 -- all the way to June 15, 2008.  MU Law expected that an India EB2 progression would happen, although it took a lot longer than we expected.  Suffice it to say, had it happened earlier in the year, the August and September jumps would not have been as dramatic.  Nevertheless, the India EB-2 progression is great news.

The other big movement was in the EB-3 category.  All other (ROW) EB-3 surged forward 18 months.  It is now at July 1, 2010.   India and Philippines EB-3 also moved ahead several months.

Here is the chart:

September 2013 Visa Bulletin
	All Other Countries	China	India	Philippines
EB-2	Current	08AUG08	15JUN08	Current
EB-3	01JUL10	01JUL10	22SEP03	01DEC06

The Department of State explained the rationale for the massive progressions:

EMPLOYMENT-based:

SECOND: 

India:  This cut-off date has been advanced significantly more than originally expected, based on the projection that there would be “otherwise unused” numbers under the overall Employment Second preference annual limit.  This is the result of a decrease in Employment First preference number use, and a similar decrease in Employment Second preference demand for most other countries during the past two months.  It is expected that such movement will generate a very significant amount of new India demand during the coming months. 

THIRD:

The Employment-based Third preference cut-off date for most countries was advanced at an extremely rapid pace in April through July in an effort to generate demand.  Historically such movements have resulted in a dramatic increase in applicant demand for numbers within a few months.  At this time there is no indication that the expected increase is materializing or will do so in the near future.  This has resulted in significant movements in the September cut-off for all countries. 

It is unlikely that there will be any forward movement of most Employment-based cut-off dates during the next couple of months.  In addition, a sudden surge in demand could require the retrogression of a cut-off date at any time.  Such action would be required if it appears that such number use could impact visa availability under the FY-2014 annual limits.