March 2011 Visa Bulletin: Further Retrogression for F2A

The State Department publishes the Visa Bulletin every month to advise the public the availability of immigrant visa numbers in each preference category.  The first table is for family-based immigration and the second for employment-based.  If the priority date printed on the receipt of your petition is before the cut-off date in your category, then you’re eligible for an immigrant visa.  “C” means there are visas for all applicants, and “U” means visas are unavailable.

            On the family side, the F2A preference category (spouses and minor children of lawful permanent residents) retrogresses further for China, India, Philippines and the other countries to Jan. 1, 2007.  F2A Mexico advances nine months to Jan. 1, 2006.  The reason for retrogression is that the rapid advancements in cut off days during the past year or so resulted in a large number of filings for family petitions.  Since supply of visa numbers is limited by law, the State Department must therefore hold off the visa usage by retrogressing the cut off dates.  The good news, according to the State Department officials, is that if the recent retrogression effectively reduces the number of new filings, future forward movements will be possible.   The other family categories have not moved much.  F1 Philippines advances about four and a half months to Dec. 15, 1994 while F2B Philippines moves forward by two months to Aug. 1, 1999.

            For employment-based immigration, there are once again very little changes.  While Eb1 continues to be current for all countries, Eb2 remains slow for China (one week advancement) and India (no change).  There are some slight advancements in Eb3 for most countries.  Eb3 China and India both advance three weeks; Eb3 Philippines and the other countries move forward by three months; Eb3 Mexico jumps ahead by six months to Aug. 8, 2004.

            Please refer to the following tables for details

Family	Rest of World	CHINA-mainland born	DOMINICAN REPUBLIC	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
1st	01JAN05	01JAN05	01JAN05	01JAN05	01FEB93	15DEC94
2A	01JAN07	01JAN07	01JAN07	01JAN07	01JAN06	01JAN07
2B	15APR03	15APR03	01JAN01	15APR03	15JUL92	01AUG99
3rd	01JAN01	01JAN01	01JAN01	01JAN01	01NOV92	08DEC91
4th	01JAN00	01JAN00	01JAN00	01JAN00	22JAN96	15JAN88

1st: Unmarried Sons and Daughters of Citizens (about 23,000 per year).

2A: The 2 "A" preference is for Spouses and Children (under 21 & unmarried) of LPR's.

2B: The 2 "B" Preference is for Unmarried Sons and Daughters (21 or older) of LPR's.

3rd: Married Sons and Daughters of Citizens.(about 23,000 per year)

4th: Brothers and Sisters of Adult Citizens.(about 65,000 per year)

Employment- Based	Rest of World	CHINA- mainland born	DOMINICAN REPUBLIC	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
1st	C	C	C	C	C	C
2nd	C	08JUL06	C	08MAY06	C	C
3rd	01JUL05	22JAN04	01JUL05	15MAR02	08JAN04	01JUL05
Other Workers	15JUN03	22APR03	15JUN03	15MAR02	01MAY03	15JUN03
4th	C	C	C	C	C	C
Certain Religious Workers	C	C	C	C	C	C
5th	C	C	C	C	C	C

1st: Priority Workers (Extraordinary ability aliens, multinational companies executives/managers, outstanding prof./researchers)

2nd: Members of the Professions Holding Advanced Degrees or Persons of Exceptional Ability.

3rd: Skilled Workers, Professionals, and Other Workers (Unskilled.)

4th: "Special Immigrants" (Religious & others)

5th: Employment Creation (Investors)