The Department of State’s crystal ball is out with some predictions released for early 2016 Visa Bulletins in the employment-based (EB) preference categories.
What Is the Visa Bulletin?
Please refer to our July Visa Bulletin blog for an overview of how the monthly Visa Bulletin works.
What’s the latest policy news on the Visa Bulletin?
Please refer to our October Visa Bulletin blogs which detail how USCIS and the Department of State (DOS) is revising procedures for determining green card availability in line with the November 2014 executive actions on immigration announced by President Obama and Secretary of Homeland Security Johnson. Putting the controversy associated with the October Visa Bulletin to one side, it is hoped that these revisions will better align procedures, enhance DOS’s ability to more accurately predict overall immigrant visa demand and determine cut-off dates, and ensure that the maximum number of immigrant visas are issued annually as intended by Congress.
What’s in the crystal ball for early 2016?
Green card availability in the first preference category (EB-1) is expected to remain current through the early part of the New Year.
The second preference category (EB-2) may be a mixed bag. For Chinese nationals in this category, recent forward movement and consequent demand for green cards may result in little, if any, advancement in early 2016. For Indian nationals, however, there may be forward movement of up to 8 months. For nationals of any country other than China, India, Mexico, and The Philippines, green card availability in this preference category is expected to remain current.
In the third preference category (EB-3), there has again been strong progression in recent months, which is likely to generate increased demand for green cards. The likely outcome is for there to be only mild advancement (of a few weeks) in the early part of next year for nationals of China, India and The Philippines. For all other nationals, if the recent forward movement fails to generate the expected green card demand, there could be even further advancement in the cut-off date.
Stay tuned!