November Visa Bulletin Confirms Fears of Significant Retrogression for EB-2 India

The Department of State released its November Visa Bulletin today. It is a mixture of good news and really bad news. The good news is that the EB-2 and EB-3 categories for all countries, except for India, continue to experience forward movement. Worldwide, EB-2 availability remains current and EB-3 availability advanced to June 1, 2012. China also experienced forward movement, with EB-2 advancing to December 8, 2009, and EB-3 advancing to January 1, 2010.

The really bad news in the Visa Bulletin relates to visa availability for India. As expected, EB-2 availability for India retrogressed by more than four years, from May 1, 2009, to February 15, 2005. EB-3, however, advanced by one week to November 22, 2003.

The Visa Bulletin also contains projections for future months. Visa availability in the EB-1 (all countries) and EB-2 (worldwide) categories are expected to remain current over the coming months. EB-3 worldwide availability is expected to experience rapid forward movement for the next several months. For China, EB-2 availability is projected to increase by three to five weeks per month, and rapid forward movement is also expected in the EB-3 category, with potential retrogression in February. India is not expected to have any forward movement in the EB-2 or EB-3 categories.

In short, individuals from India face a bleak outlook in green card availability over the next few months, while the future is brighter for individuals from all other countries.