On March 9, the State Department released the April 2012 Visa Bulletin.
The worldwide family-based categories advanced between 4 and 10 weeks when the while the employment-based (EB) categories barely budged.
For the worldwide family-based categories, the 1st preference category (unmarried adult sons and daughters of US citizens) advanced 8 weeks, the 2A preference (spouses and children of lawful permanent residents) moved forward 10 weeks, the 2B category (unmarried adult sons and daughters of lawful permanent residents) advanced 8 weeks, the 3rd preference category (married sons and daughters of US citizens) moved ahead 6 weeks and those in the 4th preference category (brothers and sisters of US citizens) saw a 4-week advance.
However, for persons born in Mexico and the Philippines, many categories failed to advance at all, and none moved forward more than 2 weeks.
FAMILY CATEGORIES
| Categories | Worldwide | China (PRC) | Mexico | Philippines |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 4-01-05 | 4-01-05 | 5-08-93 | 6-22-97 |
| 2A | 10-08-09 | 10-08-09 | 9-01-09 | 10-08-09 |
| 2B | 1-15-04 | 1-15-04 | 12-01-92 | 12-08-01 |
| 3rd | 2-15-02 | 2-15-02 | 1-15-93 | 7-22-92 |
| 4th | 11-08-00 | 11-08-00 | 6-01-96 | 1-08-89 |
The April 2012 Visa Bulletin was downright depressing for those in the employment-based categories. EB-2 China and India remain frozen in time, and are likely to regress in coming months. In the worldwide EB-3 category for professionals, skilled and unskilled workers, the numbers moved forward only 3 weeks, and only 1 week for persons born in India. The sole significant advance occurred in the EB-3 category for professionals and skilled workers born in mainland China where the numbers moved forward 8 weeks.
EMPLOYMENT CATEGORIES
| Categories | Worldwide | China (PRC) | India | Mexico | Philippines |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Current | Current | Current | Current | Current |
| 2nd | Current | 5-01-10 | 5-01-10 | Current | Current |
| 3rd | 4-08-06 | 3-01-05 | 9-01-02 | 4-08-06 | 4-08-06 |
| Unskilled | 4-08-06 | 4-22-03 | 9-01-02 | 4-08-06 | 4-08-06 |
| 4th | Current | Current | Current | Current | Current |
| Religious | Current | Current | Current | Current | Current |
| 5th | Current | Current | Current | Current | Current |
See the entire visa bulletin including information about about the movement of the green card lottery numbers.
About The Author
Carl Shusterman is a certified Specialist in Immigration Law, State Bar of California. He was a former U.S. Immigration & Naturalization Service Attorney and worked for the Board of Governors, and the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
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