The Department of State (DOS) Visa Bulletin for August 2011 shows limited progress in the employment-based (EB) categories.  In the employment-based second preference (EB2) category for India-born and China-born individuals, the priority date moved forward just over one month, from March 8, 2007 to April 15, 2007.  All countries other than India and China remain "current" in the EB2 category. Employment-based first preference (EB1) also remains current for all countries.

The employment-based third preference (EB3) numbers for all countries other than India and China advanced less than a month, from October 8, 2005 to November 1, 2005.  EB3 India moved forward one month, from May 1, 2002 to June 1, 2002.  EB3 China moved forward one week, from July 1, 2004 to July 8, 2004.  EB3 Mexico had the largest move, from July 1, 2005 to November 1, 2005. 

It is important to note that "nationality" for immigrant visa allotment 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.

© 1999-2012, Jackson & Hertogs - All rights reserved