H1B Visa Lawyer Blog
After the release of the “Visa Bulletin for October 2014” by the Department of State (DOS) the American Immigration Lawyers Association’s (AILA) DOS Liaison Committee had a “check-in” with Charles (“Charlie”) Oppenheim, Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division, DOS. They communicate with Mr. Oppenheim monthly to obtain his trend analysis and projections of the immigrant preference categories which are detailed in the monthly DOS visa bulletins.
Mr. Oppenheim states that retrogression (moving backwards) of the EB-2 India priority date appears to be imminent, and could happen as early as this November 2014. The October 2014 priority date for EB-2 India is currently at May 1, 2009. He feels given current demand, the priority date will retrogress, possibly to a date in early 2005. If you are an eligible EB-2 India client (eligible = your priority date is current according to the October 2014 visa bulletin) you should file your adjustment of status applications by the end of October. He warns that the window of opportunity may be closing.
The main reason he anticipates this EB-2 India retrogression is the large number of EB-3 to EB-2 upgrades by Indian-born applicants and this will most likely continue to increase the EB-2 India demand in the coming months.
Source of Information:
AILA InfoNet Doc. No. 14071401 (posted 9/11/14):
Check-in with DOS’s Charlie Oppenheim (9/11/14)
Related Links:
USCIS.gov, 2/19/14, Web Page:
Employment-Based Immigration: Second Preference EB-2
USCIS.gov, 6/14/11, Web Page:
Visa Retrogression