Department of State Issues January 2008 Visa Bulletin—Significant Retrogression for EB-2 Indian Nationals

The United States Department of State (DOS) has released its January 2008 Visa Bulletin. The Visa Bulletin sets out per-country priority date cutoffs that regulate the flow of adjustment of status (AOS) and consular immigrant visa applications. Foreign nationals may file applications to adjust status to permanent resident or obtain approval of an immigrant visa application at an American embassy or consulate abroad, provided their priority dates are before the cutoff dates specified by the DOS.

What Does the January 2008 Bulletin Say?

• For January 2008, all EB-1 categories are current.

 

• Priority Dates are current for foreign nationals from all countries except India and China in the EB-2 category.

For January 2008, there is a significant retrogression for Indian nationals. The relevant priority date  cutoffs for Indian and Chinese nationals in the EB-2 category are as follows:
 
China: January 1, 2003 (no movement)

India: January 1, 2000 (backward movement of two years)

Priority date cutoffs for nationals of all other countries in the EB-2 category are current.  

• There is a continued backlog in the EB-3 category.

For January 2008, the relevant priority date cutoffs for foreign nationals in the EB-3 category are as  follows:

China: November 1, 2001 (forward movement of two weeks)   

India: May 1, 2001 (no movement)

Mexico: April 22, 2001 (no movement)

Philippines: October 15, 2002 (forward movement of six weeks)

Rest of the World: October 15, 2002 (forward movement of six weeks)

How This Affects You

Due to continued demand in the EB-2 category for Indian nationals, it is likely that the annual limit will be reached in the coming months, rendering the category “unavailable” for the rest of the fiscal year.

Priority date cutoffs are assessed on a monthly basis by the DOS based on anticipated demand. Cutoff dates can move forward, backward, or remain static. Employers and employees should take the immigrant visa backlogs into account in their long-term planning and take measures to mitigate their effects. To see the January 2008 Visa Bulletin in its entirety, please visit the DOS website at http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/bulletin/bulletin_3897.html.

We will continue to monitor the process and will update you with any new information. If you have any questions about any of the issues raised in this Morgan Lewis Immigration Alert, please contact:

San Francisco
A. James Vázquez-Azpiri 
415.442.1343   
ajvazquez@morganlewis.com

Lance Nagel   
415.442.1345   
lnagel@morganlewis.com

Washington, D.C.
Eleanor Pelta   
202.739.5050   
epelta@morganlewis.com

Eric S. Bord   
202.739.6040   
ebord@morganlewis.com

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