NPZ Immigration Law Blog

EB-4 and Certain Religious Workers (SR) Preference Categories. As previously predicted, and noted in the July Visa Bulletin, a cut-off date of January 1, 2010 will be imposed in July for EB-4 Mexico. This is the same cut-off date imposed earlier this fiscal year for EB-4 El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. There will be no forward movement in these categories prior to the end of the fiscal year.

Despite the cut-off date in these categories, it is expected that EB-4 Mexico will become current in October and EB-4 El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras should advance to a 2015 cutoff date. A more precise prediction of the cut-off cannot be made until pending demand in September is reviewed.

DOS predicts that a cutoff date for EB-4 India will need to be imposed for August.

Family-Based Projections. FB-4 China, which shared the FB-4 Worldwide final action date until retrogressing in June to January 1, 2003, will remain at that cut-off date through July. Last month, DOS raised the possibility of advancement in FB-4 China before October. Of course, any forward movement this fiscal year would require a decrease in demand in the FB-1, FB-2, and FB-3 preference categories. Once there is an infusion of new visa numbers in October, it is expected that the category will recover to the prior cut-off date of July 2003 no later than November.

Similar to FB-4 China, FB-4 India recently tracked the FB-4 Worldwide final action date until it retrogressed in June. However, unlike FB-4 China, the final action date for FB-4 India will definitely remain at January 1, 2001, through September. DOS predicts that FB-4 India will advance to the former July 2003 cutoff date early in the next fiscal year, but expects that recovery to happen more slowly than for FB-4 China. DOS anticipates that the FB-4 India date will reach late 2002 for October, and may fully recover to July 2003 by the end of the calendar year.

China EB-2 and EB-3. In June, the final action date for both EB-2 and EB-3 China retrogressed to January 1, 2010. DOS reminds us that there will be no forward movement in either of these categories this fiscal year.


EB-2 Worldwide and India. It is likely that a cut-off date will be imposed for EB-2 Worldwide by September due to sustained high demand. In May alone, 4,300 EB-2 numbers were used worldwide (including PRC and EB-2 India demand). The impetus for this demand is unclear; it is unlikely the result of EB-3 upgrades, since the EB-3 date has essentially been “current” for a long time. In May, DOS allocated EB-2 numbers to more than 1,400 applicants with priority dates of 2014 and earlier.


DOS anticipates EB-2 India’s final action date will be one week beyond EB-3 India through the rest of the fiscal year. Based on current usage, there should be sufficient available unused EB-3 numbers worldwide to enable moderate forward movement in India EB-3 in the month of September.

Cutoff Date for China and India EB-1 Expected by End of Fiscal Year. In May alone, DOS received requests for approximately 4,000 EB-1 numbers worldwide (including China and India). The public should expect to see a cut-off date imposed for China EB-1 and India EB-1 this fiscal year in either August or September. Both categories are expected to become current again in October. A cut-off date will not be imposed for EB-1 Worldwide (i.e., rest of the world, besides India and China) this fiscal year.