VISA BULLETIN PROJECTIONS FOR 2015

AILA holds a regular meeting with the Department of State’s Charlie Oppenheim, who is the DOS’ chief for producing the Visa Bulletin.  MU Law has spoken with Mr. Oppenheim several times in the past and have always found that his projections are well thought out and very accurate.

India EB-2.  Mr. Oppenheim suggests that India EB-2 may slightly progress in the first-half of 2015.  Historically the Visa Office has waited until the summer to advance the India EB-2 date.

China EB-3.  China EB-3 is expected to continue to advance since demand has not yet been exceptional.   However, as more and more China EB-2 applicants “downgrade” their Application to EB-2, advancement will slow.

President Obama’s Recent Executive Action.  The Visa Office reminds users that the President’s Executive Action is not expected to have any impact on the Visa Bulletin.  While the Executive Action suggests that Adjustment of Status applications will be able to be filed much earlier in the green card process, these “pre-filings” will not impact the priority dates.

JANUARY 2015 VISA BULLETIN

The Department of State has just released the January 2015 Visa Bulletin.  This is the fourth Visa Bulletin of the 2015 US Fiscal Year, which began October 1, 2014.  

The Philippines EB-3 yet has again had a substantial progression.  It is now at June 2013, which is a progression of six more months.  It remains consistent with the All Other (ROW) EB-3 date and the Mexican EB-3 date.

India EB-2 remained stuck at February 2005.  The India EB-2 date retrogressed by four years recently and it does not appear  that any meaningful progression is imminent.  India EB-3 continued to move ahead at a snail's pace.  It is December 2003.

The Chinese EB-2 and EB-3 number continued to move inconsistently.  China EB-3 remains ahead of China EB-2 which has been the case for much of the last two years.

Employment- Based	All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA - mainland born	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
1st	C	C	C	C	C
2nd	C	01FEB10	15FEB05	C	C
3rd	01JUN13	01MAR11	15DEC03	01JUN13	01JUN13

US WORKERS SUE TO ELIMINATE OPT

The Washington Alliance of Technology Workers (WashTech), a collective bargaining organization that represents science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workers, has sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security seeking to eliminate the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program.  The OPT program allows foreign nationals on an F-1 student visa to engage in twelve months of employment during and following a full-time course load in a U.S. educational institution.  Certain STEM applicants can extend their OPT status an additional 17 months, pursuant to an April 2008 instituted by President George W. Bush’s administration.  The OPT is often seen as a bridge to the H-1B program.

WashTech argues that the OPT program causes actual harm to US technology workers because US employers hire these OPT workers when the employers could be hiring these US workers.  The WashTech plaintiffs have standing to make their case.  The court’s finding that standing exists means that the case can go forward, although the court’s decision does not speak to the likelihood of success when the substantive case is argued.