Thursday, February 9, 2017

MARCH 2017 VISA BULLETIN: DETAILED ANALYSIS AND PREDICTIONS

The Department of State has just issued the March 2017 Visa Bulletin.  This is the sixth Visa Bulletin of Fiscal Year 2017.  This blog post analyzes this month's Visa Bulletin.

March 2017 Visa Bulletin

Final Action Dates

Applications with these dates may be approved for their Green Card (Permanent Residency card).

Employ-
ment
based
All Charge-
ability 
Areas Except
Those Listed
CHINA-
mainland 
born
INDIA
MEXICO  
PHILIPPINES  
1st
C
C
C
C
C
2nd
15DEC12
01JUN08
C
C
3rd
01DEC16 
15MAR14
22MAR05 
01DEC16 
15MAR12


MU Law Analysis

All Other:  The EB-2 has been current for many years.  The EB-3 progression continues, moving an additional two months.  Consular processed EB-3 are effectively current.

China:   The China EB-2 date again moved up one month. The China EB-3 date progressed nearly six months!  The China EB-3 continues to have a more favorable date than EB-2, as a result of many Chinese EB-3 workers "upgrading" their applications to EB-2.

India:  EB-2 India moved up about 6 weeks, while EB-3 India stayed the same, unfortunately.  

Mexico: Mirrors All Other in all aspects.

Philippines: EB-3 moved ahead by nearly six more months.  The Philippine EB-3 number essentially cleaned out all 2010 and 2011 EB-3 visas in less than 6 months months.  This is what we have expected.  (Our note from September 2016: "This is consistent with internal MU Law analysis which sees this category progressing into 2013 by the Summer of 2017.").  

____

The Visa Bulletin also included projections for the next several months of Visa Bulletins.

EMPLOYMENT-based categories (potential monthly movement) 

EB-1:   The category will remain “Current”.
China and India: A Final Action Date is likely to be imposed by August. 
(MU Law note: this is not unusual and happens most years.  This should not concern anyone.) 

EB-2:
   Worldwide:  Current
   China:         Up to five weeks.
   India:          Up to one month.  

EB-3:
   Worldwide:  Up to three months. 
   China:         Up to six months.
   India:          Extremely limited forward movement.
   Mexico:        Will remain at the worldwide date.
   Philippines:  Up to six months. 

16 comments:

  1. MU Law,

    Hi! I am glad EB-3 Philippines moved that much. Do you think it will progress about the same number consistently throughout 2017 fiscal year? Do you think Oct 2013 EB-3 PD will be reached by summer?

    Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes- We do think that it will progress at a good pace through the summer. I think that Phils EB3 will reach Oct 2013 by the end of 2017.

      Delete
  2. hi MU law! I know this is off topic somehow I am curious to know how would I know if the civil documents were received by NVC?and how long do they inform the applicant for packet4?. Thanks MU law and more power!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Glimbery - Have you asked your attorney?

      Delete
    2. so far there's no update yet regarding my documents and NVC claim that they didnt receive it so I submit it twice.My concern is, is this can possibly delay my application in this stage? Thank u for any response MU law

      Delete
    3. It sounds like it has already been delayed. At MU, we request the applicants to never contact the NVC directly, as it can lead to confusion.

      You really should contact your petitioner and the attorney to get some answers.

      Delete
  3. Greetings! MU, how about PD Aug. 2014, will it be reached before the year 2017 ends? Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Lawrence,

      Phils EB3? Unfortunately no. I think 2018 is more likely.

      Delete
  4. Hi. Can I ask what will be the prediction for EB3 Philippines PD Oct 2015.Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  5. You are probably not going to be current until late 2018 or 2019.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi, I would like to ask that for instance, you arrived already in the US as EB3 visa immigrant and just waiting for your greencard to be released, but in a week time your visascreen is going to expire. Is there any issue in releasing your green card on this scenario?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Michael, There should not be any issue. Once you enter the US, you are a US permanent resident.

      Delete
  7. Do you think there will ever be a chance that the eb3 philippines will be current ( like from year 2001-2004) or at least the pd could reach 2016 before calendar year 2019

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Unknown, No - I don't think so, barring a legal change, which is unlikley but not impossible. Otherwise, a 2016 PD is probably current in 2020.

      Delete
    2. Hi. Is 2020 the earlist possible or the latest?

      Delete

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