August 2010 Visa Bulletin Shows Priority Date Advancements
07/13/2010
The U.S. Department of State's August 2010 Visa Bulletin shows marked improvement for most employment-based and family-based visa preference categories.
Notably, there has been better than expected improvement for Chinese and Indian nationals in the second employment-based preference (EB-2) category. On August 1, 2010, EB-2 priority date cut-offs will advance to March 1, 2006 for both countries. This represents an improvement of five months for Indian nationals, and an improvement of three and a half months for Chinese nationals.
Improvements in the third employment-based preference (EB-3) category for Profesionals and Skilled Workers are also significant, with most countries improving by nine and a half months. Regrettably, however, the improvements in the EB-3 Professionals and Skilled Workers category are not as dramatic for Chinese and Indian nationals, although those priority date cut-offs will advance moderately to September 22, 2003 for China and to January 1, 2002 for India.
Similarly, there have been very significant improvements for family-based preference categories, with advancements of several months in each of the preference categories.
The Department of State anticipates continued but modest improvements to immigrant visa priority dates through the remainder of Fiscal Year 2010, ending September 30, 2010, although it cautions that these predictions are estimates only, and immigrant visa availability could change with fluctuations in demand. Thus, unexpected retrogression or unavailability in a category is a continued possibility before the end of the fiscal year.
A copy of the complete August 2010 Visa Bulletin is attached below.
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August 2010 Visa Bulletin