August VB released
The EB2 category remains “current” for natives of most countries. Cases filed under EB2 are eligible for immediate processing and should expect approval in the near future. The two major EB2 exceptions are China and India. Chinese and Indian cases are only being processed for those with priority dates before October 1, 2003.
The September Visa Bulletin will be released in mid-August. The September VB will likely have the same dates as the August Visa Bulletin, at least with respect to the categories discussed in this post.
The next major Visa Bulletin will be the October VB, which should be published in mid-September. The US fiscal year runs from October 1 – September 30, and so the 2010 US fiscal year begins October 1, 2009. Preliminary expectations are that the DOS will start the dates off slowly, and then progress them in a systematic process throughout the year. My sense is that the EB3 dates will be in the 2003-05 time frame. Depending on demand in October and November, I could see those dates aggressively moving ahead.
Predicting the progression of Visa Bulletin dates is a somewhat impossible exercise. No one knows just how many 2003-05 visas remain unused, and no one knows how many of those people no longer want their visas.