A blog about U.S. immigration matters by Paul Szeto, a former INS attorney and an experienced immigration lawyer. We serve clients in all U.S. states and overseas countries. (All information is not legal advice and is subject to change without prior notice.)

Contact: 732-632-9888, http://www.1visa1.com/

Saturday, December 14, 2013

January 2014 Visa Bulletin: EB-3 advances 6 months for most countries

The January 2014 Visa Bulletin brings good news to the third employment-based visa preference applicants, as the EB-3 preference category moves forward by six (6) months for most countries including China. However, EB-3 India remains unchanged at 09/01/2003. EB-3 Philippines moves forward by five (5) weeks.  The six-month jump brings the cut-off date for most countries in EB-3 to 04/01/2012, compared to 10/01/2011 in last month's visa bulletin.  Based on this development, Chinese applicants should consider filing an EB-3 visa petition even if they have already submitted an EB-2 petition. 

On the family side, there are some moderate advancements in the 1st (unmarried sons and daughters of U.S. citizens) and F-2B (unmarried adult sons and daughters of lawful residents) preference categories. There are no changes in the F-3 and F-4 preference categories.  For the fourth month, the cut-off date for F-2A remains unchanged at 09/08/13 for all countries.  


FAMILY
Other Countries
China
India
Mexico
Philippines
F1
12/08/06
12/08/06
12/08/06
09/22/93
07/01/01
F2A
09/08/13
09/08/13
09/08/13
09/01/13
09/08/13
F2B
06/01/06
06/01/06
06/01/06
04/01/94
05/01/03
F3
04/15/03
04/15/03
04/15/03
06/01/93
02/01/93
F4
10/01/01
10/01/01
10/01/01
11/01/96
07/01/90

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
Other Countries
China
India
Mexico
Philippines
EB1
C
C
C
C
C
EB2
C
12/08/08
11/15/04
C
C
EB3
04/01/12
04/01/12
09/01/03
04/01/12
02/15/07
Other Workers
04/01/12
04/01/12
09/01/03
04/01/12
02/15/07
EB4
C
C
C
C
C
EB5
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)

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