The September 2013 visa bulletin was released today. Here’s the pertinent information most of my readers are looking for:
For ALL countries including India and China: F2A preference is still CURRENT. You can file for your green card, if you meet all the requirements. Best to seek legal advice as this category comes with various issues that must be considered first. You should also seek advice on consequences if the visa retrogresses after your filing.
For all countries except India, China, Philippines, and Mexico: F2B preference advanced 77 days days with PD at 15 Feb 2006; F4 category advances 30 days to PD at 22 July 2001; EB2 is current and, and EB3 has a huge jump of 547 days (wow! that’s 18 months! ) to PD 1 July 2010.
For India only: F2B preference advanced 77 days days with PD at 15 Feb 2006; F4 category advances 30 days to PD at 22 July 2001; EB2 advances 167 days (that’s great news since last month’s huge jump to current!) to PD 15 June 2008 (I am happy for everyone who has been so close yet so far, who can finally file their I-485s!) and EB3 has finally sees some great movement too of 244 days to movement leaving PD at 22 Sept 2003 (I had an error in previous posts that this date was June 2003 but it was January 2003, apologies).
As promised in last month’s bulletin, there has been some exciting movement in the August 2013 visa bulletin that has continued into the September 2013 bulletin. See below for information from the DOS about coming months.
Don’t waste time filing your petition if your priority date is finally current!
We will be sure to update you on the October 2013 visa bulletin when it becomes available.
D. VISA AVAILABILITY
FAMILY-sponsored:
F2A: This category was made “Current” in an effort to generate new demand for the upcoming fiscal year. Information received during discussions with the National Visa Center and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services indicates that this action is already having the intended result. Therefore, it is likely that a cut-off will be imposed for October. This cut-off is unlikely to have any negative impact on those who have already initiated action on their case prior to the announcement of the October cut-off dates.
EMPLOYMENT-based:
SECOND:
India: This cut-off date has been advanced significantly more than originally expected, based on the projection that there would be “otherwise unused” numbers under the overall Employment Second preference annual limit. This is the result of a decrease in Employment First preference number use, and a similar decrease in Employment Second preference demand for most other countries during the past two months. It is expected that such movement will generate a very significant amount of new India demand during the coming months.
THIRD:
The Employment-based Third preference cut-off date for most countries was advanced at an extremely rapid pace in April through July in an effort to generate demand. Historically such movements have resulted in a dramatic increase in applicant demand for numbers within a few months. At this time there is no indication that the expected increase is materializing or will do so in the near future. This has resulted in significant movements in the September cut-off for all countries.
It is unlikely that there will be any forward movement of most Employment-based cut-off dates during the next couple of months. In addition, a sudden surge in demand could require the retrogression of a cut-off date at any time. Such action would be required if it appears that such number use could impact visa availability under the FY-2014 annual limits.
E. DETERMINATION OF THE NUMERICAL LIMITS ON IMMIGRANTS REQUIRED UNDER THE TERMS OF THE IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY ACT (INA)
The State Department is required to make a determination of the worldwide numerical limitations, as outlined in Section 201(c) and (d) of the INA, on an annual basis. These calculations are based in part on data provided by U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services (CIS) regarding the number of immediate relative adjustments in the preceding year and the number of aliens paroled into the United States under Section 212(d)(5) in the second preceding year. Without this information, it is impossible to make an official determination of the annual limits. To avoid delays in processing while waiting for the USCIS data, the Visa Office (VO) bases allocations on the minimum annual limits outlined in Section 201 of the INA. On July 25th, USCIS provided the required data to VO.
The Department of State has determined the Family and Employment preference numerical limits for FY-2013 in accordance with the terms of Section 201 of the INA. These numerical limitations for FY-2013 are as follows:
Worldwide Family-Sponsored preference limit: 226,000
Worldwide Employment-Based preference limit: 158,466
Under INA Section 202(A), the per-country limit is fixed at 7% of the family and employment annual limits. For FY-2013 the per-country limit is 26,913. The dependent area annual limit is 2%, or 7,689.