NPZ Immigration Law Blog

Final Action Date Movements Consistent with Prior Predictions. The Final Action Dates in the April 2016 Visa Bulletin are consistent with the U.S. Department of State (DOS) predictions from last month. In February, DOS predicted that we would continue to see forward movement of up to five months in EB-2 and EB-3 China, and in April, EB-2 China will advance one month and EB-3 China will advance one and a half months. This modest advancement is attributable to an increase in I-485 cases in these categories coming to completion. DOS has limited/no visibility into immigrant visa demand at USCIS until USCIS completes adjudication of an I-485 and requests a visa number. The difference in USCIS processing times at various offices makes it difficult to predict future demand and thus, difficult to adjust the Final Action Dates in such a way as to avoid volatility over the course of the fiscal year. For example, when the February Final Action Dates were announced in early January, USCIS reported 400 India EB-2 applicants who were eligible for final action, but by the end of February, USCIS had requested an additional 300 of these numbers. When an abrupt increase in demand such as this occurs, it is impossible to know whether it represents a sustained increase in demand in that category, whether it is the result of preference category upgrades or downgrades, or whether it merely represents a one-time reallocation of adjudication resources. Additional transparency and data analytics into pending I-485s would be helpful, and it is hoped that USCIS' use of the Dates for Filing will eventually provide such insight.

Although it is imperfect, DOS must make assumptions regarding upcoming demand based on the available data and prior experience in an effort to stabilize Final Action Date movements. DOS prefers to advance the Final Action Dates conservatively in the hope of avoiding a retrogression later in the fiscal year, especially in categories that are subject to upgrades and downgrades. Unfortunately the need to generate sufficient demand to use all numbers available under the annual limits often requires aggressive forward movement of the dates. This is the case with the EB-3 Worldwide cut-off date which has advanced 16 months in the past year, and is only one month behind today's calendar date. Forward movement in the EB-3 China Final Action Date has been slow due to concerns that EB-3 downgrade cases (from EB-2 China) may soon come to completion and result in a spike in demand in that category.

April movement in the Indian employment-based categories is also consistent with DOS predictions last month. The EB-2 India Final Action Date will advance less than one month in April, moving to November 8, 2008. Forward movement in this category could be slower than originally expected due to increasing demand in this category which can be attributed to upgrades from EB-3 India. Additionally, EB-1 Worldwide usage continues at a steady pace, making it unclear how many numbers might be available to fall down for potential use in EB-2 India. This should become clearer in the coming months as additional demand data becomes available. The EB-3 India Final Action Date will also advance only three weeks to August 8, 2004.

NVC EB-5 Investor Assistance Desk. The April Visa Bulletin also included an announcement regarding the new National Visa Center (NVC) EB-5 Investor Assistance Desk. The NVC has created a dedicated email address (NVCeb5@state.gov) to address EB-5 inquiries. This email box will be staffed with officers who are knowledgeable in EB-5 matters in an effort to improve customer service.