MAY 2021 VISA BULLETIN: ANALYSIS AND PREDICTIONS

The Department of State has just issued the May 2020 Visa Bulletin. This is the eighth Visa Bulletin of Fiscal Year 2021. This blog post analyzes this month's Visa Bulletin.

Visa Bulletin

Table A: Final Action Dates -- Applications with these dates may be approved for their Green Card (Permanent Residency card) or Immigrant Visa appointment.

Employment- based	All Other	CHINA	INDIA	PHILIPPINES
1st	C	C	C	C
2nd	C	01DEC16	01AUG10	C
3rd	C	15MAY18	01FEB11	C

 

Table B: Dates of Filing

The USCIS will be using the Table A: Final Action Dates chart for I-485 employment-based filings. A beneficiary must be current on the above Table A chart in order to file their I-485, Adjustment of Status applications.  USCIS Adjustment of Status page.

MU Law Analysis

Both the Philippines and Worldwide (All Other) EB-3 continue to be current. Our opinion remains that these categories will stay current for the foreseeable future.

India EB-1 remains current, which continues to lead to extra visas will flowing down to India EB2 and EB3.  India EB-2 again moved ahead, this time by 3 months.  EB-3 also jumped up.  It moved 6 months, into 2011.  We could see favorable processing times for the rest of 2021.

China EB-2 and EB-3 again both moved forward by a few months, a trend that should continue.  China EB-1 remains reflecting the paucity of visas that were issued under the last year of the Trump presidency and the COVID pandemic.

CGFNS MUST ISSUE CERTIFIED STATEMENTS TO US-EDUCATED BSNs

CGFNS has a fast-track “Certified Statement” Visa Screen for foreign nurses who are educated in the US, and a few other English speaking countries (see below). 

Franklin University, an Ohio college, offers graduate nursing degree, such as Bachelors of Science in Nursing (BSN) to foreign nurses who received a 2 year degree in other countries, such as the Philippines.  CGFNS was trying to force these BSNs to file for the more expensive and time consuming regular Visa Screen, instead of the Certified Statement.  

Franklin University tried to convince CGFNS that making these nurses apply for the costlier and time-consuming process was contrary to the relevant USCIS’ regulation.  When CGFNS refused to allow these nurses to apply for the Certified Statement, Franklin University sued.  This week, the court held that CGFNS must issue Certified Statements to these US-graduates of BSNs. 

The countries are:  Australia, Barbados, Canada (including only the following approved Quebec schools: McGill University and Dawson College in Montreal, Vanier College in St Laurent, John Abbot College in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, and Heritage College in Gatineau), Ireland, Jamaica, New Zealand, South Africa, Trinidad/Tobago, the United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales) 

PRESIDENTIAL PROCLAMATION BARRING NONIMMIGRANTS NOW EXPIRED

On March 31, 2021, Presidential Proclamation 10052 expired. PP 10052 prohibited the issuance of certain H-1B, H-2B, L-1, J-1, H-4, L-2, and J-2 visas for entry to the US at US Embassies and Consulates due to possible economic harm to the US during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

All consular processed cases falling under the criteria of PP 10052 may now resume processing. Any visa applicant previously refused a visa due to PP 10052 must reapply with a new application and new fee. However, many US embassies are still operating on reduced staff, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, we anticipate that there will continue to be delays in obtaining nonimmigrant visa interviews at Embassies and Consulates.

DOS has updated its announcement and FAQs on the phased resumption of visa services  following the expiration of Presidential Proclamation 10052.