In welcome news, the Department of State (DOS) Visa Bulletin for August 2009 indicates a significant move forward in employment-based second preference (EB2) for China-born and India-born individuals. For both India and China, the EB2 priority date has moved to October 1, 2003 from January 1, 2000. All countries other than India and China remain "current" in the EB2 category. Employment-based first preference (EB1) remains current for all countries as well. The EB3 category will remain "unavailable" until October 2009 when the new fiscal year begins.

DOS offered no explanation why EB2 India and China moved forward more than three years from the prior month's priority date. This progress is even more puzzling in light of last month's indications from DOS that EB2 for India and China is likely to become unavailable this fiscal year. We may see a significant change in the September Visa Bulletin, as DOS acts to ensure that all available immigrant visa numbers are used before the end of the fiscal year on September 30, 2009.

It is important to note that "nationality" is not the same as citizenship. Generally, DOS looks at the country of birth in determining whether a person is a national of a given country. As a result, persons who become citizens of other countries (i.e., Indians who become Canadian citizens) are still considered nationals of their birth country for immigrant visa purposes.

For general information on visa retrogression, please see our FAQ on this subject. For more information on the Visa Bulletin and country quota movements, including information about movement in the Family-Based Quotas, please see our DOS Visa Bulletin and Quota Movement page which includes detailed nationality-specific charts of quota movement since 1996.

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