Visa Bulletin – March 2024

March Visa Bulletin for the FY 2024 was released few days. Here are key insights and updates to it with some predictions.

How to use Demand Data to calculate EB3 to EB2 Porting?

As per visa allocation each year under each category, USCIS/DOL should use 233 visas every month for EB2-India. Normally this should reduce demand by 233 every month. Since we are not seeing any reduction in demand data, it suggests that there are many individuals who are upgrading their case from EB3 to EB2. So what is the rate at which EB3 to EB2 porting is happening? Simple Calculations that could be used to estimate this is ...

EB3 to EB2 Porting with same employer: Not a good idea

These days it is been topic of the town for Indian nationals to port their priority date from EB3 to EB2 category. So far this totally makes sense. This could tremendously reduce the wait time for an individual to receive a green card. But an individual and his employer should be very careful while taking this step if they are planning to port the case with a same (current) employer. There are rumors that many employers are upgrading their employees’ petition from EB3 to EB2 category just to retain their employees.

I-485 Case Tracker for PDs 'Current'

We have released new I-485 case tracker for cases that are 'Current' today. Please use this tracker to enter details of your application and case status. Please fill in as much details as possible and edit the tracker as and when you will get more information on your application status. Use this tracker to see if PDs that has recently became current are getting approved

January 2012 I-485 Pending Inventory - EB Category Visa Use

USCIS released I-485 pending inventory upto 12 January 2012. Please note this inventory is only for Service Centers and Field Offices, and does not contain consular processing cases. Dependents are included. Here is a summary of the I-485 inventory when compared to October 2011 Inventory. This inventory is used to estimate the visa use during Q1 of FY 2012 and Projected Demand for FY 2012.Please note that one fallacy to using inventory to estimate demand is that it will not consider cases approved in less than 90 days.

EB Category Roll-Over and PWMB Demand: I-485 Receipt Data

We analyzed I-485 Approvals and Receipts for FY 2011 to estimate carry-over demand from FY 2011 in EB category. We also used this data in conjunction with USCIS I-485 Performance data and I-485 representative filings from June to September 2011 at trackitt to estimate People Who Missed the Boat (PWMB) demand for EB2-IC upto September 2011 that may start consuming visa numbers from FY 2012 annual allocation and/or spillover.

Prediction for EB2 Category for FY 2012

Here is the Prediction for EB2 Category cutoff date retrogression for Fiscal Year 2012. Basis for this prediction is simple calculations (see below) which is done based on available data i.e. PERM data published by DOL, I-485 Inventory data, latest trend on Trackitt for EB1 & EB2 cases and other published data by USCIS. Demand data for each dependent category is predicted and explained in calculations below. This data is further used to calculate spillover that would be available for EB2 category. Retrogression is estimated based on visa allotment available each year for each country and total spillover that is expected in FY 2012. In each case, Optimistic, Realistic and Worst-Case scenario is estimated.

Green Card Calculator - Employment Based

As per recent demand data released until September 01, 2011 on EB I-485 inventory, here is the 'Green Card' calculator for Employment- Based category that tells an individual how many I-485 applicants are there before them in the queue under their filed preference category. Beyond this, calculations are extended to predict how many years will it take an individual to receive a green card. In addition, you can put an assumption for a spillover that your category and country would receive every year and see how this changes the scenario.

What to do once Priority Date (PD) becomes current?

A very commonly asked question by fellow petitioners is the step by step process that they should follow after an individual’s Priority date will become current. Please read this article to check on next steps and required I-485 documents.

I-485 Primary & Secondary Evidence - Country Specific

Commonly asked question is what to do when primary evidence of birth, marriage, divorce etc is not available. Here is the country specific I-485 Required documents for (AOS) or (CP). Immigration officers or Adjudicators are asked to refer to the list below before making any decision on RFE or NOID in case primary evidence is not submitted or established. Please select your country from the drop-down list to see specific secondary evidence and documents.

EB2-India & China I-140 Demand (Yearly) based on DHS Released Report

DHS on 29th December 2011 released a Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman's recommendation to improve the quality in Extraordinary Ability and Other Employment based petition adjudication document. We used this data to deduce I-140 demand for EB2-India and China.

EB2-IC Movements FY 2012 - Mr. Oppenheim's thinking?

We looked into if there is any analytical correlation between movements that Mr. Oppenheim did last year for Family Based Category (F2A) and current movement that we saw with EB2-India and China for Employment Based Category. Is there any correlation or equation or factor that can determine how Mr. Oppenheim would think in absence of demand or visible demand in case number of filings that he is receiving or available adjudicated case cases are less? That is when we started digging into this.

AC21 Portability - FAQs and Sample Letters to USCIS

Some people suggests that sending letter to USCIS on job change after invoking AC-21 portability is not required. But this is a gray area, and no one knows it better if USCIS should be informed when individual would invoke an AC-21 portability to change job once applicant's I-485 is pending for more than 180 days with USCIS.

Understanding Section 245(k) to use it for Derivative applicants after Primary’s I-485 approval

Common question asked by many primary I-485 applicants who had previously filed I-485 Adjustment of Status (AOS) application, which is still pending with USCIS, is about adding their spouses or children (derivatives) to their pending I-485 application. At this point there is always a concern among the petitioner that their case will be approved before their derivatives application

July 2012 Visa Bulletin Predictions - EB Category

Here is the prediction for July 2012 Visa Bulletin. We should see following movements in each category as long as USCIS/DOL would use visa numbers as per statutory allocations.

EB2 India & China - What to expect in FY 2012?

Cut-Off Dates has reached PD 15th April 2007 for EB2-India and China for FY 2011 in September bulletin, now what can we expect for FY 2012?. We have some analysis to estimate movement in FY 2012. This is very rudimentary as of now and can change as FY 2012 will progress.

EB3 ROW-Mexico-Philippines - What to expect in FY 2012?

For FY 2012, EB3-ROW-M-P is expected to move together similar to the movement that was seen for FY 2011. Based on available I-485 inventory, last released demand data, and hidden demand (or Consular Processing demand) that was observed in FY 2011, total EB3-M-P demand until ....

How to know if old I-140 has been revoked by previous employer?

If an individual filing a green card under employment-based category has changed job and now planning to port priority date from previous filed Labor certification, he/she will at least need an approved I-140 from previous employer to recapture priority dates. This I-140 should not be revoked and still active.

Understanding Visa Bulletin Cut-Off Date Determination

The State Department (DOS) is responsible for the allocation of numerically limited immigrant visa numbers under the authority granted by section 203 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). These visa numbers are allocated based on congressionally mandated preferences that assign an overall total, limits for each category and per country limits within each category. Here is a quick Memo on the steps involved.

'Hard' vs 'Soft' LUD - How to use it to track your case status with USCIS?

If you heard people talking about keeping track of 'Soft' and 'Hard' LUDs on forums and other websites, and wondered what it is, now you can understand what is LUDs and how you can use them to track any activity on your petition that is pending with USCIS.

How to Obtain an Emergency Advance Parole (AP) Document?

If your current status is Adjustment of Status (AOS) Pending and you are currently working on EAD, it is very important that you renew your Advance Parole (AP) document in timely manner, well in advance. If an individual leaves a country under AOS pending status with their AP application pending or AP document due expire when they are traveling outside of country, they will abandon their status in United Status. Subsequently their I-485 application will be denied.

People Who Missed the Boat (PWMB) during July 2007

Question was asked in the comment section that how would applications with Priority date before July 2007 who could not file in July 2007 would affect EB2-IC movement for FY 2011. These people are commonly referred as "People Who Missed the Boat (PWMB)" by some people. We earlier thought that these numbers will small percentage of the whole group. But careful analysis of PERM data suggests that these numbers are significant when you will include primary + dependents (assuming a family would consume 2.5 visas) applications.

EB3 to EB2 Porting Calculations - Part III

We have a poll on EB3 to EB2 Porting which is up since last week of February 2011, and till-date we have received '445' votes. Results has been consistent through out the poll for the last two months. It suggests that the general trend or distribution of individuals with different PD that are porting has not changed from day to day regardless of number of votes received.We are convinced that this will be a general trend for rest of the current year regardless of porting numbers. Calculations are further extended to extrapolate real world numbers.

H1B FY 2012 CAP Count & Predictions

As per recent release by USCIS, regular cap has utilized till date 11,200 visas and Masters quota has utilized 7,900 visas as of 13th May 2011. It is interesting to see that H1B visa under Master Cap has utilized more than 35% of the quota. As of now number of petitions increased from last week is 1,600. Based on past months trend, regular cap can reach by 27th January 2012 and Masters Cap by 30 September 2011.

H1B FY 2012 : List of Disqualified Employers

H1B FY 2012 season will be here soon. It is advisable that the prospective aspirants for H1B FY 2012 should be aware of the debarred or disqualified employer for this season. Please make sure you do not become a bait to any of these employers for your H1B filing. These employers are willful violator employer and are black-listed.

PERM Processing Time Starts to Slump

DOL recently released current PERM processing times. It looks like fire-sale is almost over and PERM processing time will again start creeping towards 1-2 months wait or more in coming months. 5 days approval will be a history. Temporary Government shutdown is still not in effect and this will delay the processing time further when some decision about it will be made during April 8, 2011. The Senate votes to fund the federal government through April 8. But the stalemate over 2011 spending remains, and no one wants to pass another short-term stopgap. Is the stage now set for a government shutdown next month is yet to be known.

Document on Tax Exemption for OPT Students and Students on F1B visa

Document or proof stating that OPT students are not required to pay Social Security Taxes and Medicare tax. You can share this with your employer

What is H1B 'CAP Exempt' visa?

Most of the international students after graduation would focus their attention to find a job in corporate world. But it is always difficult to find an employer who will be ready to sponsor your H1B visa. If you are lucky, you may find an employer who is willing to sponsor your work visa, but could not do it because quota is not available at that time or if quota is open, is worried that he may have to wait until start of fiscal year in October before you could begin working for him. What are other options in such case? Well in this case, you can opt for working for organizations that are exempted from H1B visa regular cap quota.

Sunday, March 24, 2024

March 2024 Visa Bulletin Summary: Key Insights, Predictions and Updates

Posted On Sunday, March 24, 2024 by Rav 0 comments


March 2024 Visa Bulletin Summary: Key Insights and Updates

March 2024 Visa Bulletin Summary: Key Insights and Updates


Introduction:

The March 2024 Visa Bulletin, released by the U.S. Department of State, provides crucial information on immigrant visa availability for individuals seeking permanent residency in the United States. This summary highlights key insights and updates from the latest bulletin, offering valuable insights for immigrants, employers, and immigration professionals.

Priority Date Movements:

A. FINAL ACTION DATES FOR EMPLOYMENT-BASED PREFERENCE CASES

The table below outlines the final action dates for various employment-based preference categories:

Employment-based All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed China - mainland born India Mexico Philippines
1st C 15JUL22 01OCT20 C C
2nd 22NOV22 01JAN20 01MAR12 22NOV22 22NOV22
3rd 08SEP22 01SEP20 01JUL12 08SEP22 08SEP22
Other Workers 08SEP20 01JAN17 01JUL12 08SEP20 01MAY20
4th 01DEC19 01DEC19 01DEC19 01DEC19 01DEC19
Certain Religious Workers 01DEC19 01DEC19 01DEC19 01DEC19 01DEC19
5th Unreserved (including C5, T5, I5, R5) C 15DEC15 01DEC20 C C
5th Set Aside: Rural (20%) C C C C C
5th Set Aside: High Unemployment (10%) C C C C C
5th Set Aside: Infrastructure (2%) C C C C C

B. DATES FOR FILING OF EMPLOYMENT-BASED VISA APPLICATIONS

The table below reflects the dates for filing visa applications within a timeframe justifying immediate action in the application process:

Employment-based All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed China - mainland born India Mexico Philippines
1st C 01JAN23 01JAN21 C C
2nd 15FEB23 01JUN20 15MAY12 15FEB23 15FEB23
3rd 01FEB23 01JUL21 01AUG12 01FEB23 01JAN23
Other Workers 15DEC20 01JUN17 01AUG12 15DEC20 15MAY20
4th 01JAN20 01JAN20 01JAN20 01JAN20 01JAN20
Certain Religious Workers 01JAN20 01JAN20 01JAN20 01JAN20 01JAN20
5th Unreserved (including C5, T5, I5, R5) C 01JAN17 01APR22 C C
5th Set Aside: Rural (20%) C C C C C
5th Set Aside: High Unemployment (10%) C C C C C
5th Set Aside: Infrastructure (2%) C C C C C

C. DATES FOR FILING OF FAMILY BASED VISA APPLICATIONS

The table below reflects the dates for filing family-based visa applications within a timeframe justifying immediate action in the application process:

Family-based All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed China - mainland born India Mexico Philippines
F1 C 01JAN23 01JAN21 C C
F2A C C C C C
F2B C C C C C
F3 C C C C C
F4 C C C C C

Predictions:

Predictions for both Employment-Based (EB) and Family-Based categories are as follows:

Employment-Based (EB) Categories:

Category Predictions
EB-1 Current priority dates are expected to remain stable or experience slight advancement due to ongoing demand for highly skilled professionals and individuals with extraordinary abilities.
EB-2 Priority dates are likely to see slight advancement or stability, reflecting continued demand for professionals with advanced degrees or exceptional abilities.
EB-3 Limited forward movement or even retrogression may occur in priority dates for skilled workers and professionals, particularly for oversubscribed countries, due to sustained demand.
EB-4 Priority dates are expected to remain current or experience slight advancement, indicating stable visa availability for certain special immigrants.
EB-5 Current priority dates are anticipated to be maintained, reflecting ongoing demand for immigrant investors.

Family-Based Categories:

</ thead>
Category Predictions
F1 Priority dates may continue to advance gradually, reflecting ongoing demand for family-sponsored immigrant visas.
F2A Priority dates are expected to remain current, indicating consistent visa availability for this category.
F2B Priority dates may see modest advancement, reflecting ongoing demand but with relatively stable visa availability.
F3 Priority dates may advance gradually, reflecting sustained demand for family-sponsored immigrant visas.
F4 Priority dates are anticipated to advance slowly, reflecting limited visa availability and high demand in this category.

This summary provides an overview of the expected trends and movements in both Employment-Based and Family-Based visa categories, based on the information provided in the March 2024 Visa Bulletin.


Saturday, June 2, 2012

July 2012 Visa Bulletin Predictions - EB Category

Posted On Saturday, June 02, 2012 by Rav 162 comments

July 2012 Visa Bulletin will be first bulletin for Q4 - FY 2012.  Here is the prediction for July 2012 Visa Bulletin. We should see following movements in each category as long as USCIS/DOS would use visa numbers for each category as per statutory allocations.


July 2012 Visa Bulletin Predictions
    • EB3- China could advance to 15 September 2005
    • EB3 – ROW and EB3-Mexico could advance to 08 July 2006
    • EB3 – Philippines could advance to 15 June 2006
    • EB2 for ROW, Mexico and Philippines could see cut-off date of 01 August 2011 – 01 November 2011 in coming bulletins.
    • EB3-India could advance to 22 September 2002.
    • EB2-India and EB2-China would stay ‘Unavailable’ until September 2012.
    NotePredictions are based on educated guess and is not guaranteed. Please take it with a grain of salt. EB2-ROW/Others date are determined based on discussion with attorney friend.




      Sunday, April 29, 2012

      June 2012 Visa Bulletin Predictions - EB Category

      Posted On Sunday, April 29, 2012 by Rav 53 comments

      June 2012 Visa Bulletin will be third bulletin for Q3 - FY 2012.  Here is the prediction for June 2012 Visa Bulletin. We should see following movements in each category as long as USCIS/DOS would use visa numbers for each category as per statutory allocations.


      June 2012 Visa Bulletin Predictions
        • EB3- China could advance to 15 June 2005
        • EB3 – ROW, EB3-Philippines, and EB3-Mexico could advance to 22 May 2006
        • EB2 will be current for ROW, Mexico and Philippines at least for this quarter.
        • EB3-India could advance to 15 September 2002.
        • EB2-India and EB2-China would stay at 15th August 2007 in June and July visa bulletin. At this point, DOS has announced that available visas for EB2 China and India have been exhausted. So far I am still hopeful of some movement in August or September visa bulletin for this category. Again, movement will be dependent on what is status of EB1 and EB2-ROW backlog at that point. Expect movement to atleast PD March 2008 or beyond in October 2012 visa bulletin.
        NotePredictions are based on educated guess and is not guaranteed. Please take it with a grain of salt. 




          Tuesday, March 27, 2012

          May 2012 Visa Bulletin Predictions - EB Category

          Posted On Tuesday, March 27, 2012 by Rav 70 comments

          May 2012 Visa Bulletin will be the second bulletin for Q3 - FY 2012.  Here is the prediction for May 2012 Visa Bulletin. We should see following movements in each category as long as USCIS/DOS would use visa numbers for each category as per statutory allocations.


          May 2012 Visa Bulletin Predictions
          • EB3- China could advance to 22 March 2005
          • EB3 – ROW, EB3-Philippines, and EB3-Mexico could advance to 22 April 2006 (Mostly 22 April 2006. It could just be in borderline for 01 May 2006 if we are lucky).
          • EB2 will be current for ROW, Mexico and Philippines.
          • EB3-India could advance to 08 September 2002.
          • EB2-India and EB2-China would retrogress to 15th August 2007 in coming bulletin. Now since we have all the demand to satisfy annual quota for this fiscal year, dates will remain stagnant up to July visa bulletin. In August visa bulletin, we may see 3-4 months movement and then in September it will be March 2008, with final resting point for cut-off date at May-June 2008 or more in October-December visa bulletins. We can crunch exact numbers once next inventory data is released .i.e. in May time frame. As of now it seems that FY 2013 will take care of at least first half of 2009 or little more; FY 2014 is the year we are looking for 2010 PDs.
          NotePredictions are based on educated guess and is not guaranteed. Please take it with a grain of salt.


          Sunday, February 26, 2012

          Adjusted EB2-India & China FY 2012 Retrogression Estimation based on I-485 Receipt Data

          Posted On Sunday, February 26, 2012 by Rav 41 comments

          Based on newly released USCIS Receipts and Approvals for Q1-FY 2012, we would like to adjust the estimation of retrogression for FY 2012 for EB2-India & China Category. This time we were fooled by USCIS January 2012 Inventory which in reality is nothing but a muck of mislaid data. Either USCIS inventory was incomplete in terms of November 2011 and December 2011 to an error of greater than 50% or currently released document has some error. Most likely at this point January Inventory looks incomplete not only with respect to December 2011 visa bulletin movement data but to great extent to November 2011 data. In any case, at this time we feel dejected to outline that we are back to square-one where we started for FY 2012. If any of this is accurate to 80-90%, we are talking about severe retrogression.

          Visa Usage or Approvals from the released data 
          Currently released data suggests that atleast 31,541 visas were used in Q1-FY 2012. This looks reasonable based on estimated visa use that was published few months ago. 

          Estimated EB2-IC visa use upto Q1-FY 2012 is 8000+4805 (PWMB). Also for EB3 category at least 15% or more visa is used by Consular Processed (CP) cases, so monthly visa use is 0.85*3367 = 2861 per month at USCIS. For 3 months it becomes, 2831*3 = 8,493. EB4 could have used 2495 or more in Q1 and EB5 has used 2864 based on released data. Estimated from January Inventory, EB1 and EB2-ROW-M-P use was  around 3,580 and 2321 respectively.
           
          Visa use in Q1-FY2012 =  3580 + 8000+ 4805 + 2321+  8493 + 2495 + 2864 = 32,558 (approx 31,541)


          EB2-IC Receipts from the released data 
          Most disturbing and contradicting to January Inventory data is the total EB category receipts issued in Q1-FY 2012. YTY we had seen that total I-485 EB Receipts at TSC and NSC were 27% - 33% of total I-485 receipts at these service centers. Well current data suggests that when EB2-IC cut-off dates were moved so much in last 6 bulletins, this is no longer true. EB category receipts due to such huge movement now estimates as large as 50%-60% of total I-485 receipts at these centers.

          Based on EB receipts for each month as per currently released data, and current trackitt trend for filings in each month for Q1-FY 2012, EB2-India & China demand estimate has almost doubled than what was estimated earlier just because of I-485 EB receipts now representing 50%-60% of total receipts and not 27%-33% anymore. Tabulated results is based on taking EB2-IC trackitt data as it is and assuming EB1 and EB2-ROW-M-P  representation is 1/4th of that of EB2-IC on trackitt. See this article for reference on how this is calculated.

           EB1 and EB2-ROW-M-P estimation above jives well with new applications estimated from January Inventory. Estimation from January 2012 Inventory falls atleast 20% low again because of incompleteness.

          One fallacy to above method is that we have not considered any EB3 to EB2 Porting and any new receipts for EB4 and EB5. Based on inventory EB3 to EB2 Porting is not more than 1800, and EB4 & EB5 demand is around 622+223 = 845. Assuming incompleteness of inventory, if we increase this number by 50% more, it comes out to be 845*1.5 = 1267. Though good chunk of EB4 and EB5 cases are CP cases we can ignore it at this point and assume all 1267 were filed at USCIS. Out of new EB2-IC cases, there will be few PWMBs too, which account for these receipts. Such number should be part of October receipts. Considering all these errors, EB2-IC demand for Q1-FY2012 comes out to be 23,787 - 1800 - 1267 = 20720. This is atleast 8000-9000 higher than 11,563 what we estimated from January Inventory. This tells us that January Inventory is totally bogus with respect to EB2-IC demand and should be ignored. Again if these are not EB2-IC numbers then any reduction in here should be accounted by increase in EB1, EB2-ROW, EB4 or EB5 demand, which by all means suggest less contributed spillover to EB2-IC. Based on this March 2008 PD total demand for this year becomes

          EB2-IC demand March 2008 =  8000+ 20,720 + 1,800 = 30,520

          Now based on current EB1 and EB2-ROW demand, we are estimating that spillover for this year can be as high as 35,500 and as low as 28,800. So it still means June-July 2008 PD can receive green card this FY 2012. My personal opinion is that due to long processing time at USCIS, DOS may not have to retrogress dates all the way to June-July 2008 and then move them again in FY 2013.So this means we can still see October 2008 PD to be current for the remaning fiscal year. USCIS may approve cases more likely on basis of PD than receipt date. EB1 demand will be a gate keeper for this year based on USCIS efforts to reduce this huge inventory. EB2-ROW-M-P demand may yield more spillover compared to last year.

          Summary
          • USCIS inventory was not indicative of real EB2-IC demand. We were fooled by those low numbers. Current Receipt data suggests that EB2-IC demand upto March 2008 PD is capable to use 30,520 visa numbers.
          • PD June-July 2008 should expect Green Card this year with dates still hovering around October 2008 - November 2008 incase DOS decides to avoid severe retrogression and moving dates again in FY 2013.


          Monday, February 20, 2012

          April 2012 Visa Bulletin Predictions - EB Category

          Posted On Monday, February 20, 2012 by Rav 137 comments

          April 2012 Visa Bulletin will be the first bulletin for Q3 - FY 2012.  Here is the prediction for April 2012 Visa Bulletin. We should see following movements in each category as long as USCIS/DOS would use visa numbers for each category as per statutory allocations.


          April 2012 Visa Bulletin Predictions
          • EB3- China could advance to 08 February 2005
          • EB3 – ROW, EB3-Philippines, and EB3-Mexico could advance to 08 April 2006.
          • EB2 will be current for ROW, Mexico and Philippines.
          • EB3-India could advance to 01 September 2002.
          • EB2-India and EB2-China could see 0 months - 3.5 months movement in coming bulletin. Movement in coming months solely depends on how demand for last two visa bulletin. has picked up so far. If January and February bulletin demand for EB2-IC has bloomed as we expected  (i.e. based on trackitt trend), then we may not see any substantial movement. Any withered demand means few months movement for EB2-IC.
          At this time based on current demand, everyone with PD until October-November 2008 should feel good about receiving green card this fiscal year. This is all based on receiving 30K spillover including annual quota from EB1, EB2-ROW and EB5, which looks plausible. based on current demand. Dates might not retrogress in this bulletin. We may expect stall or retrogression in May-June VB.

          NotePredictions are based on educated guess and is not guaranteed. Please take it with a grain of salt.




          Thursday, February 16, 2012

          Visa Bulletin: March 2012

          Posted On Thursday, February 16, 2012 by Rav 25 comments





          March 2012 Visa Bulletin  for the FY 2012 was released few days ago. March visa bulletin brought 4 months movement for the EB-2 China and EB-2 India categories, thus moving it to the most favorable cut-off dates  ever.  EB3 categories advanced as expected with EB3-ROW-M-P moving by 3 weeks. EB3-India and China moved as expected by1 week and 4 weeks. All other categories are current. Family Based category  saw some movement.

          Employment-Based (EB)
          Below is a summary of the March 2012 Visa Bulletin with respect to employment-based petitions:
          • EB-1 remains current across the board.
          • EB-2 remains current for EB-2 ROW, Mexico and Philippines.   EB-2 India and EB-2 China both move forward by four (4) months to May 1, 2010.
          • EB-3 ROW, EB-3 Mexico and EB-3 Philippines move forward by only three (3) weeks to March 15, 2006, EB-3 China  moves forward by one (1) month to January 1, 2005, while EB-3 India  moves forward by only one (1) week to August 22, 2002.
          • The “other worker” category remains unchanged (again) at  April 22, 2003 for China.  It moves forward by three (3) weeks for ROW, Mexico and Philippines to March 15, 2006.  It also moves forward by one (1) week for India to August 22, 2002.

          Family-Based (FB)
          Below is a summary of the March 2012 Visa Bulletin with respect to family-based petitions:
          • FB-1 moves forward (again, for sixth consecutive month).  FB-1 ROW, China and India all move forward by five (5) weeks to February 1, 2005.   FB-1 Mexico moves forward by one (1) week to May 1, 1993 and FB-1 Philippines moves forward by one (1) month to June 22, 1997.
          • FB-2A moves forward by six (6) weeks to July 22, 2009 for ROW, China, India, and Philippines.  FB-2A Mexico moves forward by seven (7) weeks to July 1, 2009.
          • FB-2B ROW, China and India move forward by one (1) month to November 15, 2003.  FB-2B Mexico remains unchanged at December 1, 1992.   FB-2B Philippines moves forward by five (5) weeks to December 8, 2001.

          VISA AVAILABILITY IN THE COMING MONTHS
           
          EB Categories
          No Notes


          FB Categories

          No Notes

          Demand Data



          EB2-India & China Movement
          It is obvious that EB2-India & China are reaching their high mark point for this year. Currently released inventory suggests that incoming demand for EB2-IC is low compared to what was anticipated based on PERM data. There is apparently lot of multiple PERM filings either to port to EB2,because of job changes, due to more than one filing per family or abandonment of cases during 2008 and 2009. We know that inventory has not covered entire demand for December and January Visa Bulletin movement, and it should be assumed complete only regard to demand upto November visa bulletin. We believe that current movement upto March Visa Bulletin would be sufficient for current year's demand. Please see where demand is heading for current fiscal year based on trackitt demand.

          Ratio of representation for EB2-IC on trackitt to inventory number suggests that one trackitt case will convert into 8.6 cases in I-485 inventory. This is based on numbers that were seen in new inventory  up to Oct-November visa movement i.e. 5,603. This when compared to trackitt corresponds to 651 cases. Ratio of these two numbers is 8.6. If we will use same ratio for movements upto February visa bulletin, i.e. PD 01 Jan 2010, demand comes upto 33,220. This number corresponds to PERM to Inventory factor of 0.42. This is very low multiple PERM factor but so far is looking very plausible. I will not be surprised if retrogression that will happen in May-June 2012 will be minimum.  

          YTY trackitt ratio had usually held upto 13 vs 8.6; using ratio of 13 gives us PERM to Inventory factor of 0.65. So in any case when retrogression will happen, it will not go beyond  Priority Date November 2008. But how things are looking so far, retrogression may not happen or if will happen will only be until later months of 2009. Since past month USCIS approval rate has picked up. If  rate will drop then we might not even see any retrogression. It is important that USCIS should use visa numbers at consistent rate.  Any slack over there means Consular cases are only hope. Of course, retrogression majorly also depends upon how EB1 and EB2-ROW approvals will pick up with time and if we can  still receive spillover  of 30K. Anything less than this means more retrogression. I believe now it is the right time to divert our focus more towards EB1, EB2-ROW and EB5 demand.

          EB2-IC is now at a point where it may stall or just move by two months at most in April 2012. May 2012 should expect stall and worst to worst case little retrogression. Any one with PD before November 2008 should feel confident about receiving green card this year.

          EB3-ROW-M-P Movement 
          EB3-ROW-M-P movement based on demand data is 2350 visa numbers worth month to month. We need 32,150 visa numbers from today to cross PD to January 2007. Constantly around 1200-1600 new cases are added to the inventory month to month. At current rate, it will take 12 months to cross January 2007, which means for FY 2012, PD cut -off date may only reach around 08 August 2006. Interesting thing to note is that EB3-ROW demand is in 18000 vs EB3-P demand which 11,000. EB3-P demand is really slowing down movement for EB3-ROW.

           EB3-India &China Movement
          EB3-India is currently moving as expected. There is some eventual EB3 to EB2 porting going on at rate of 250 cases per month based on demand data. If this will continue then we can again see some rapid movement for EB3-I in later part of the year, especially in August-September 2012. EB3-China is moving very well with at least 4-6 weeks movement each month. We expect this movement to continue for rest of the year.



          Monday, February 6, 2012

          Prediction for EB2 Category for FY 2012 - Employment Based Green Card

          Posted On Monday, February 06, 2012 by Rav 60 comments

          Here is the Prediction for EB2 Category cutoff date retrogression for Fiscal Year 2012. Basis for this prediction is simple calculations (see below) which is done based on available data i.e. PERM data published by DOL, I-485 Inventory data, latest trend on Trackitt for EB1 & EB2 cases and other published data by USCIS. Demand data for each dependent category is predicted and explained in calculations below. This data is further used to calculate spillover that would be available for EB2 category. Retrogression is estimated based on visa allotment available each year for each country and total spillover that is expected in FY 2012. In each case, Optimistic, Realistic and Worst-Case scenario is estimated.

          Based on newly released USCIS Receipts and Approvals for Q1-FY 2012, we would like to adjust the estimation of retrogression for FY 2012 for EB2-India & China Category. See this article for detail.


          Summary of article

          • USCIS inventory was not indicative of real EB2-IC demand. We were fooled by those low numbers. Current Receipt data suggests that EB2-IC demand upto March 2008 PD is capable to use 30,520 visa numbers.
          • PD June-July 2008 should expect Green Card this year with dates still hovering around October 2008 - November 2008 incase DOS decides to avoid severe retrogression and moving dates again in FY 2013.
          EB2-IC PERM to Inventory factor is a User ENTERED' field and can be changed accordingly. 


          You can also play with EB1, EB2-ROW-M-P, EB4 and EB5 demand to get your own estimate. Please read this article to estimate their respective demand.

          Estimation on Retrogression - Last Updated - 26 February 2012

          We do not expect to achieve any spillover from Family-Based category.


          Detailed analysis on Visa Demand data for each category could be seen below in the calculations.


          You can enter porting and visa demand for each category in 'User ENTERED' box for your Priority date, and see if your PD would be current with those assumptions.

          This Prediction will be updated as and when more data is published - Last Updated 26 February 2012

          Notes

          Understanding Spillover
          Spill Across (SA): It is a horizontal reallocation of visas within a category. (Unused number from EB2 ROW will be allotted to EB2 -India and China)
           
          Fall Down (FD) : It is the vertical reallocation of visas between categories (eg: unused numbers from eb1 go to eb2....) Unused visa numbers in a higher preference level can "fall-down" to lower preference categories. For example, excess EB1 numbers can "fall-down" to EB2.


          Fall Up (FU): Unused visa numbers in EB4 and EB5 can "fall-up" to EB1 then to EB2


          EB2 - India-China Allocation (IC) - Visa numbers allotment to India and China EB2-category. This is 2,800 for each country or total 5,600.


          How spillover works?

          Unused EB4 and EB5 => EB1 => Unused EB1 => EB2 ROW => EB2 Retrogressed


          Visa Allocation available each year

          EB1 - 40,000

          EB2 -ROW-P-M - 34,400

          EB2-IC - 5,600

          EB4 - 9,940

          EB5 - 9,940


          Calculations


          Sunday, February 5, 2012

          January 2012 I-485 Pending Inventory - EB Category Visa Use

          Posted On Sunday, February 05, 2012 by Rav 0 comments

          USCIS released I-485 pending inventory upto 12 January 2012. Please note this inventory is only for Service Centers and Field Offices, and does not contain consular processing cases. Dependents are included. Here is a summary of the I-485 inventory when compared to October 2011 Inventory. This inventory is used to estimate the visa use during Q1 of FY 2012 and Projected Demand for FY 2012.Please note that one fallacy to using inventory to estimate demand is that it will not consider cases approved in less than 90 days.

          EB1 demand : In general, EB1 is highly backlogged with atleast 15,583 applications still pending at Service Centers. Although this number looks big at first glance please do not worry. This is just a backlog that USCIS will need to clear going forward. Rate of new application filings is very low and we can estimate at least 12,000 or more spillover from this category at current rate. This may change with time. It all depends how much USCIS will like to reduce it's inventory when crossing into FY 2013. Generally such number is around 8,000 year-to-year, and we have used this number to estimate our projected EB1 demand for FY 2012.


          EB2-ROW-M-P demand - This category demand is little surprising at first. I am not sure if new demand is so low but we should remember that other significant demand for this category also comes from consular processed cases. Such demand is usually around 15%. Estimated Demand shown is only for USCIS and Field Offices. Usually year to year inventory for this category ends around 8,000 -10,000. We assumed 8,000 in our calculations.

          If we will add 15% to the estimated demand, we can say that estimated FY 2012 EB2-ROW-M-P demand is around 1.15 * 22,379 = 25,735. From EB2-ROW-M-P, we can expect spillover around 34,200 - 25,735 = 8,465 or more

          EB3-ROW-M-P demand - Visa use for for EB3-ROW-M-P is estimated from October 2011 to January 2012 inventory. Please see below.

           One thing to note here is that only 5,042 visa numbers were used by EB3-ROW-M-P at USCIS. Total visa number available for 3 months is around 8,682. Remaining 3,640 were used by consulates abroad. This demand is around 40% for CP cases.We are still marching towards 08 August 2006 for this category.

          EB2-IC demand - This section of the article will only cover EB2-India and China demand till PD July 31st, 2007. This demand is all inclusive of visa numbers that are/will be used upto this PD for current fiscal year (FY 2012). Demand from October 2011-January 2012 inventory estimates visa number used until Q1, cases still waiting for visa numbers and new EB3 to EB2 porting cases. Remaining demand after PD July 2007 is covered in "Predictions for EB2-India & China FY 2012".

          Just based on inventory it seems that only 7,795 visa numbers were used in Q1-FY 2012. Total PWMB numbers are also very less compared to what we initially thought. PWMBs includes all PDs from May 2006- July 2007 (June VB-November VB) that are still pending since October 2011 inventory. Visa use for such cases will come from this year's quota. These 14,430 demand will be limiting factor for current year cut-off date on retrogression. Retrogression will be estimated is next article.

          EB3- India - Inventory for EB3-India compared to last fiscal year reduced by 4884 (2803 annual limit + 2081 estimated porting and/or case abandonment upto January 2003). Minimum movement around 08 November 2002 is expected. Movement can be little more if more folks from November-December 2002 will port for this year.

          EB4- demand - Last year, EB4 demand was high or at par, and hence no spillover was received from this category. For this year also we may assume that no spillover will be received.

          EB5- demand - EB5 demand is similar level as last year and may yield around 3000-4000 unused visa numbers if similar demand is seen in FY 2012.