From: AILA Doc. No. 14071401, March 17, 2017
1) EB-1 India and China: Per country limits of 2,800 visas has been reached
for both, with EB-1 India using more than 9,000 numbers, and EB-1 China
using more than 4,500 numbers. Once the spillover visa numbers from other
categories have been used up, Final Action cut-off date "will likely be
imposed for both countries at some point this summer."
2) EB-3 China: EB-3 China is 17 months ahead of EB-2 China as of April.
Charlie expects "downgrading from EB-2" will bring these two categories
closer in cutoff dates - which historically usually happens in May. However
, thus far, demand for EB-3 China visa numbers is light. Still, Charlie is
reluctant to advance its cutoff date aggressively because of the Downgrade
Phenomenon.
3) EB-3 Worldwide: This category is not expected to become current in the
near future, but "will likely advance about one month at a time, staying
about two months away from being current."
4) EB-3 Philippines: The Final Action Date advances six months to September
15, 2012 for April.
5) EB-5 China. EB-5 China advances to May 22, 2014 in April. Advancement
will likely to continue if the Regional Center pilot program is reauthorized
by Congress before the end of April.
6) EB-4 El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico: "Number usage in the EB
-4 categories for El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico continues to
approach the per-country annual limits. While Charlie anticipates
significant demand in these categories based on information provided by
USCIS, there is still a possibility that their Final Action Dates may
advance at some point this summer."
7) Family-Based Preference Categories:
- All FB-1 categories advance more than four months in April to October 15,
2010, except Mexico and Philippines.
- FB-1, FB-2 and FB-3 are expected to continue their advancement because
fewer applicants are becoming "documentarily qualified."
- FB-4's advancement in April was "sufficient to meet Charlie's target for
this category for the next two to three months." No further advancement of
FB-4 Worldwide is expected until July.
8) Question: Why is the Final Action Date for EB-3 China later (August 15,
2014) than the Filing Date for EB-3 China (May 1, 2014)?
Charlie explained that there was a retrogression of the Filing Date for EB-3
China because he was concerned that the number of eligible applicants for
FY 2017 would likely exceed than that of FY 2016. Further, In addition, the
above-mentioned EB-2 to EB-3 Downgrade Phenomenon may also cause demand to
increase for this category later on. Hence, he is putting a hold on the
Filing Date.
