Wednesday, June 14, 2006

July 2006 Visa Bulletin

Every month around the 15th day, the U.S. Dept. of State, releases the visa bulletin which lists who can avail of a visa number next month to adjust status to permanent residency. This bulletin breaks down the numbers based on the category and also seperates out over-subscribed countries from the rest of the world. When you apply for permanent residency you get a case number and a priority date. If your priority date is earlier than the date listed in the visa bulletin for your application category, USCIS will proceed with your case and in most cases you will get your permanent resident card in a few months. Here are the cut-off dates for employment-based permanent residency categories from the July 2006 visa bulletin:

For persons born in India:
CategoryCut-off DateMovement from previous month
EB101 Jan 2006No change
EB201 Jan 2003No change
EB315 Apr 2001Moved ahead by 7 days

For persons born in China:
CategoryCut-off DateMovement from previous month
EB1CurrentMoved ahead by 11 months
EB201 Mar 2005Moved ahead by 8 months
EB301 Oct 2001Moved ahead by 3 months

For persons born in Phillipines:
CategoryCut-off DateMovement from previous month
EB1CurrentNo change
EB2CurrentNo change
EB301 Oct 2001Moved ahead by 3 months

For persons born in Mexico:
CategoryCut-off DateMovement from previous month
EB1CurrentNo change
EB2CurrentNo change
EB322 Apr 2001No change

For rest of the world:
CategoryCut-off DateMovement from previous month
EB1CurrentNo change
EB2CurrentNo change
EB301 Oct 2001Moved ahead by 3 months

Most IT related applicants would fall under EB3. That's backlogged by 5 years now for applicants born in India.
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2 comments:

SN said...

Saying it is a "5 year backlog" is the same as saying: it takes about 5 years to get a GC. The recent pause is a based on the month. Expect a pause -- and perhaps even some back-tracking from now to November. Then, expect a spurt again for a few month, followed by a slow-down, ... ... and the cycle goes on.

12:39 AM
Me said...

And this is fine as long as people know about it in advance. The dates were current for most of the time from 2001 to 2004 and bam, it becomes backlogged by a few months, then becomes unavailable and then backlogged by 7 years all in a matter of few months. How would you feel if you were caught in that situation? You were looking for new house one day as you were feeling confident about your green card and the next day you get thrown into a 7 year wait. How would your wife feel who was on visa an unable to work, now has to wait for 7 more years before she can work. This is merciless playing with numbers with utter disregard for peoples lives and emotions.

3:12 PM

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