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Employment-Based Immigrant Visa Categories for India and China

Professionals from India and China face multiple-year visa waits because their employment-based (EB) visa categories are oversubscribed. Recently, however, there has been some significant forward movement, reducing wait times in some categories by as much as six months. Below is a summary of waiting times and the reasons for the movement:

EB-2 India: In the March Visa Bulletin, the EB-2 India final-action date advanced to October 15, 2008, shaving off 8½ months from where the category was just three months ago. The Department of State (DOS) explains that demand was less than anticipated — thus the forward movement — and also reflects a strategy of advancing dates more aggressively earlier in the year in an effort to ensure that cases can be completed and all visa numbers used within the fiscal year. The lower demand may be attributable to fewer EB-3 to EB-2 upgrades than expected, or that the last advancement sufficiently captured the bulk of the demand. Low demand also may be the result of USCIS working through a backlog of EB-2 India cases, which would give the appearance that demand has tapered off. The category, advises DOS, is not expected to move at this pace in the coming months.

EB-2 and EB-3 China: The EB-2 Final Action date for China continues to lag behind the EB-3 China Final Action date in March — August 1, 2012 for EB-2 and June 1, 2013 for EB-3. DOS explains that while demand decreased in November and was relatively low in December, demand for this category was high in October. At the same time, demand for EB-3 China is on the low side. Thus, EB-3 China continues to advance. Because the EB-3 category cut-off date for China continues to be more than 10 months ahead of EB-2 China, foreign nationals and their employers degrade from EB-2 to EB-3, which in turn causes greater than normal fluctuations in both categories.

On a related note, USCIS has determined that for family-sponsored filings, the “Dates for Filing Visa Applications” chart for March 2016 may be used. For employment-based filings, the Application “Final Action Dates” must be used.