Ogmen & Associates | Immigration News | State Department Issues February 2009 Visa Bulletin.

State Department Issues February 2009 Visa Bulletin.

01/13/2009

Cut-Off Dates for EB-2 and EB-3 to Advance Slightly For Some Countries

Immigrant visa cut-off dates will make moderate advancements for some employment-based categories and countries in February 2009, but they will retrogress for "other workers" in the third preference category. Under to the State Department's February 2009 Visa Bulletin, priority dates for the employment-based second preference (EB-2) category will advance six months for China and India. The EB-2 category will remain current for all other countries.

The cut-off dates for skilled workers and professionals in the third employment-based permanent residence (EB-3) category will advance four months for China and four-and-a-half months for Mexico, but will remain unchanged for all other countries. The EB-3 "other workers" subcategory will retrogress nearly six months for China and nearly eighteen months for India and Mexico, but they will remain unchanged for all other countries. The employment-based first preference (EB-1) category will continue to be current for all countries.

For February 2009, the cut-off dates for the first three employment-based preference categories will be as follows:

EB-1: Current for all countries.
EB-2: January 1, 2005 (China); January 1, 2004 (India); all other countries current.
EB-3: Skilled Workers and Professionals: October 1, 2002 (China); October 15, 2001 (India); April 1, 2003 (Mexico); May 1, 2005 (all other countries).
EB-3: Other Workers: October 1, 2002 (China); October 15, 2001 (India and Mexico); March 15, 2003 for all countries.

The Visa Bulletin is the State Department's forecast of green card availability for the coming month. Each month, the State Department sets a cut-off date for each immigrant visa category. A foreign national whose priority date (his or her place in line) is earlier than the cut-off date for a particular category is eligible to apply for adjustment of status or for an immigrant visa. If the State Department designates a category as "current," any foreign national eligible for the category may apply for adjustment or an immigrant visa. If a category is designated as "unavailable," the annual quota of immigrant visas has been met and immigrant visas are no longer available in that category.