On November 8th, 2013 the Visa Bulletin for December 2013 was revealed, summarizing the availability of immigrant numbers during the month of December. The cut-off dates for the India Employment Second and Third preference categories were quickly advanced at the end of fiscal year 2013. According to the US Department of State, “those movements were based strictly on the availability of thousands of ‘otherwise unused’ numbers which could be made available without regard to the preference per-country annual limits.” However, this quick advancement caused the employment-based second preference category (EB-2) for India to retrogress from 6/15/2008 to 11/15/2004.
The Visa Availability in the Coming Months is as follows:
FAMILY-sponsored categories (potential monthly movement)
Worldwide dates:
F1: Three to five weeks
F2A: No forward movement, the Mexico cut-off date is likely to retrogress
at some pointF2B: Three to five weeks
F3: Three to five weeks
F4: Two or three weeks
EMPLOYMENT-based categories (potential monthly movement)
Employment First: Current
Employment Second:
Worldwide: Current
China: Three to five weeks
India: No forward movement
Employment Third:
Worldwide: This cut-off date has been advanced extremely rapidly during the past seven months in an effort to generate new demand. As the rate of applicants who are able to have action on their cases finalized increases, it could have a significant impact on the cut-off date situation. The rapid forward movement of this cut-off date should not be expected to continue beyond February.
China: Expected to remain at the worldwide date
India: No forward movement
Mexico: Expected to remain at the worldwide date
Philippines: Three to six weeks
Employment Fourth: Current
Employment Fifth: Current
For More Information, please visit: http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/bulletin/bulletin_6211.html
