March 2022 Visa Bulletin: EB-2 India Advances 4 Months

 

                                                      

For March, the headline news is the four-month advancement of EB-2 India's Final Action dates to May 1, 2013. 

Going forward, however, due to the increased usage of visa numbers by the EB-5 investment visa category, an overflow of visa numbers will be unlikely.  Hence, retrogression is possible for EB-2 India in the coming months. For those who are eligible for EB-2 interfiling, they should act on it now. 

Most other EB dates remain the same as before. EB-2 China stays the same at March 1, 2019.  

EB-1 China and EB-1 India will remain current in March. 

The cutoff dates for Family visa categories have mostly stayed the same, except some advancements for Mexico.

USCIS announced that I-485 adjustment applicants must use the Dates for Filing chart (FD Chart) in both the family-based and employment-based cases, except the F2A category. F2A applicants can use the Final Action Date chart because final action dates are "current". 

Please see below for details.

AD: Dates for Final Action (Green Card Approval)          
FD: Dates for Filing Applications Only

 

FAMILY IMMIGRATION

Family		Other Countries	China	India	Mexico	Philippines
F1	AD	12/01/2014	12/01/2014	12/01/2014	09/08/1999	03/01/2012
	FD	05/15/2016	05/15/2016	05/15/2016	04/01/2001	04/22/2015
F2A	AD	C	C	C	C	C
	FD	12/01/2021	12/01/2021	12/01/2021	12/01/2021	12/01/2021
F2B	AD	09/22/2015	09/22/2015	09/22/2015	09/01/2000	10/22/2011
	FD	09/22/2016	09/22/2016	09/22/2016	04/01/2001	10/01/2013
F3	AD	11/22/2008	11/22/2008	11/22/2008	09/15/1997	06/08/2002
	FD	08/22/2009	08/22/2009	08/22/2009	03/01/2001	10/01/2003
F4	AD	03/22/2007	03/22/2007	09/15/2005	04/22/1999	08/22/2002
	FD	10/01/2007	10/01/2007	01/01/2006	09/01/2000	02/01/2004

 

F1st: Unmarried Sons and Daughters of Citizens (about 23,400 per year).

F2A: The 2 "A" preference is for Spouses and Children (under 21 & unmarried) of LPR's.

F2B: The 2 "B" Preference is for Unmarried Sons and Daughters (21 or older) of LPR's.

F3rd: Married Sons and Daughters of Citizens (about 23,400 per year)

F4th: Brothers and Sisters of Adult Citizens. (about 65,000 per year)

 

EMPLOYMENT IMMIGRATION

Employment		Other  Countries	China	El Salvador Guatemala Honduras	India	Mexico	Philippines
EB1	AD	C	C	C	C	C	C
	FD	C	C	C	C	C	C
EB2	AD	C	03/01/2019	C	05/01/2013	C	C
	FD	C	04/01/2019	C	09/01/2013	C	C
EB3	AD	C	03/22/2018	C	01/15/2012	C	C
	FD	C	04/01/2018	C	01/22/2012	C	C
Other Workers	AD	C	05/01/2012	C	01/15/2012	C	C
	FD	C	07/01/2015	C	01/22/2012	C	C
EB4	AD	C	C	05/01/2017	C	04/01/2020	C
	FD	C	C	06/01/2017	C	C	C
EB5	AD	C	C	C	C	C	C
	FD	C	C	C	C	C	C

 

 

1st: Priority Workers (Extraordinary ability aliens, multinational companies’ executives/managers, outstanding professors/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) 

Employment-Based 5th Preference C5 & T5 Non-Regional Center Visa Categories is "Current" for March in all countries

 *(I5&R5 are still "Unavailable" in the March visa bulletin)

 

(Immigration laws and policies change regularly.  If you have any questions regarding this article, please visit www.1visa1.com to schedule a legal consultation.)

Bill Would Scrap Per-Country Limit for Employment-Based Immigration

Foreign hi-tech professionals are getting pumped-up recently.  

A  bipartisan group of 114 members in Congress has brought forth a bill proposing substantial changes to how immigration visas are distributed.  The H.R. 1044 bill, titled Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act, aims to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) in favor of immigrants from large countries.  

The main changes are to remove per-country limitations for employment-based (EB) immigration and increase per-country limitation for family-based immigration to 15% from 7 %.

The bill also proposes to remove the "offset" from the Chinese Student Protection Act (CSPA). The CSPA allowed for many Chinese nationals to immigrate to the U.S. in a short time span. It also implemented an offset of 1,000 visas every fiscal year to account for the influx of Chinese immigrants.

Professionals from high-population countries like India and China stand to benefit greatly from the removal of per-country limitations for employment categories. There is currently a backlog of immigration cases for EB categories in these countries. Visa numbers are in high demand, and the backlog is sizable. Applicants must wait years for available immigrant visas. The scrapping of per-country limits would provide substantial relief to these backlogs and allow many more of these countries' natives to immigrate.

Family-based immigration is facing a similar backlog issue, with applicants from countries such as Mexico and the Philippines facing extremely long wait times. The increase of per-country limitations from 7% to 15% would be a welcome change for these families. 

The bill details a 3-year transitional plan that reserves 15%, then 10% of EB-2, EB-3, and EB-5 visas for countries other than the top two with the most approved petitions of the listed categories. The reserved visas will be 15% in FY 2020, then 10% in 2021 and 2022. During this period, one country may not have more than 25% of total available visas.

The proposed changes contrast greatly with the immigration policy of the current administration. It is  still unclear whether this bill will finally become law, given the current political environment.  The House already passed the bill on 07/10/2019. Thus far the Senate does not have enough sponsors to pass the bill.  Even if the bill was passed by Congress, President Trump would still have the power to veto it.  If that happens, the veto can only be overridden only by a two-thirds vote in both the Senate and the House.

(Immigration laws and policies change regularly.  If you have any questions regarding this article, please visit www.1visa1.com to schedule legal consultation.)