July 2015 Visa Bulletin Shows Slower Movement as Fiscal Year-End Nears

As the calendar turns to July, we take a look at the July 2015 Visa Bulletin, a monthly report detailing the current cutoff dates for the filing or approval of green card applications in the various U.S. permanent visa categories. A person who is otherwise eligible to apply for or be granted a green card in the U.S., must have a current priority date as specified in the Visa Bulletin.

The July 2015 Visa Bulletin shows at least some forward movement in nearly all categories, although the pace of advancement seems to be slowing as the end of the fiscal year approaches.

As of July 1, 2015, all of the family-based preference categories advance between three and six weeks with the exception of the family-based first (FB-1) preference category for nationals of the Mexico and the Philippines, which will not advance at all from November 15, 1994, and March 1, 2000, respectively.

The priority dates in the employment-based third (EB-3) preference for all countries except India, China, and the Philippines advance another six weeks to April 1, 2015, and remain nearly current. EB-3 India advances only two weeks to February 1, 2004. There is more bad news for nationals of the Philippines as the EB-3 category becomes completely unavailable.

The flip-flop between EB-2 and EB-3 continues for nationals of China as the EB-3 priority date does not advance, but the employment-based second (EB-2) preference advances another four months to October 1, 2013.

The priority date in the EB-2 category for Indian nationals remains at October 1, 2008. According to Charles Oppenheim, Chief of Visa Control and Reporting at the U.S. State Department, in a regular meeting with the American Immigration Lawyers Association, worldwide demand in the EB-2 category has exploded in recent months leaving fewer unused visas “falling down” to EB-2 India. Unless the EB-2 worldwide demand subsides, Mr. Oppenheim does not expect any further advancement of EB-2 India for the rest of the fiscal year.

You can view the visa bulletin in its entirety below. Please contact us with any questions.