August 16, 2007

Employment Preference VISA Availability for September

The newly published September 2007 Visa Bulletin provides for employment-based immigrant visas availability in the first, second and third employment-based preference categories. This is an unexpected and welcome surprise since the Department of State (DOS) had previously stated that these categories would be unavailable from the end of July through the beginning of the new fiscal year on October 1, 2007. The DOS explained that employment-based immigrant visa numbers remain available for September as a result of lower than expected demand for immigrant visa numbers at consular posts, and the return of previously requested, but unused immigrant visa numbers from July 2007.

The cut-off date for the first employment-based (EB-1) preference category is set at January 1, 2007 for all countries of chargeability. The cut-off date for the second employment-based (EB-2) preference category is January 1, 2007 for most countries, with earlier cut-off dates for China (January 1, 2006) and India (April 1, 2004). The third employment-based (EB-3) preference subcategory for skilled workers and professionals shows availability worldwide and for the Philippines, with a cut-off date of August 1, 2002, though visas continue to be unavailable in the skilled worker/professional subcategory for China, India and Mexico and for all countries of chargeability in the "other worker" subcategory.