February 2020’s visa bulletin was released over the weekend and it held very little hope for the different categories of employment base visas. EB-1 visa petitioners were left dejected while the others saw little to nothing to look forward to. Following is an analysis of the different dates projected in the February 2020 visa bulletin.
The highlight of February 2020’s visa bulletin is the constantly increasing demand for employment-based visas in the EB-3 category. However, the downside of this high demand is that EB-3 category will consequently, retrogress sooner than later. Until now it was progressing, although at a snail’s pace i.e. either by a week or at the most by a month.
The immigration trends for professional and skilled workers seem to counter the many policies and road-blocks put in place by the US government. While high-levels of demand for this visa category continue into the new year, the current February 2020 visa bulletin also shows advancement for China, India and Philippines that ranges from a week to two and a half months.
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Disappointments continue for employment-based first preference category of EB-1 for China and India. They continue to remain at May 22, 2017 and January 1, 2015 respectively. The other countries do advance to December 1, 2018, which is a whole two- month jump. The way it is going, doesn’t look like we should have too many expectations from the EB-1 category and it would be safe presume that these dates will there will be no movement in the coming months either.
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Another expectation from USCIS in the March 2020 visa bulletin is the announcement of the cutoff dates for acceptance of adjustment of status applications. Up until now, USCIS was accepting these adjustment of status applications based on Final Action dates rather than Dates for Filing. Will it continue to do so is yet to be ascertained.
In the meantime, here’s a breakdown of all cut-off dates for China, India and the ROW, under each visa category within the February 2020 Visa Bulletin –
Employment-Based Visas
Final Action Date
| Category | China | India | ROW |
|---|---|---|---|
| EB-1 | May 22, 2017 | January 1, 2015 | December 1, 2018 (+2 Months) |
| EB-2 | July 15, 2015 (+14 Days) | May 19, 2009 (+1 Day) | Current |
| EB-3 | January 1, 2016 (+1 Months) | January 8, 2009 (+7 Days) | Current |
| EB-5 | December 1, 2014 | September 1, 2018 | Current |
| Category | China | India | ROW |
|---|---|---|---|
| EB-1 | October 1, 2017 | March 15, 2017 | Current |
| EB-2 | August 1, 2016 | July 1, 2009 | Current |
| EB-3 | March 1, 2017 | February 1, 2010 | January 1, 2019 |
| EB-5 | May 15, 2015 | Current | Current |
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