The Department of State has just issued the December2020 Visa Bulletin. This is the third VisaBulletin of Fiscal Year 2021. This blog post analyzes this month’s VisaBulletin.
December 2020 Visa Bulletin
Table A: Final Action Dates — Applications with these dates may beapproved for their Green Card (Permanent Residency card) or Immigrant Visaappointment.
|
Employment- |
All Other |
CHINA |
INDIA |
PHILIPPINES |
|
1st |
C |
01APR19 |
01APR19 |
C |
|
2nd |
C |
01MAY16 |
01OCT09 |
C |
|
3rd |
C |
01NOV17 |
15MAR10 |
C |
Table B: Dates of Filing
The USCIS again announced that it will allow the more favorable Dateof Filing chart for I-485 Adjustment of Status.This means that all employment-based immigrants in EB-1, EB-2 or EB-3 can filetheir I-485s. However, if they arenatives of India or China, their priority date must be earlier than thesedates:
|
Employment Based |
CHINA-mainland |
INDIA |
|
1st |
01NOV20 |
01NOV20 |
|
2nd |
01OCT16 |
15MAY11 |
|
3rd |
01JUN18 |
01JAN15 |
MU Law Analysis
Unlikelast month, the DOS issued a timely Visa Bulletinfor December.
Both the Philippines and Worldwide (All Other) EB-3 continueto be current. We expect these categoriesto stay current for the foreseeable future. The only constraint to the Philippine EB-3 visas being issued is thecapacity at the Embassy in Manila. Itremains to be seen how increasing COVID infection rates bear on embassiescapacities.
India had another month defined by variance. India EB-1 moved ahead sixmonths. India EB-2 and EB-3 eachmoved ahead by about 1-2 weeks. Theinteresting news was that the Dates of Filing for India EB-3 retrogressed by ayear, reflecting the fact that an enormous number of India EB-3 I-485s havebeen filed in October and November. Thisretrogression probably means that no further material progress will happen inIndia EB-3 for a long time.
China EB-2 and EB-3 both moved forward by a few weeks, a trend that maycontinue. China EB-1 showed moreprogress than expected, perhaps because of declining rates of visa issuance outof the American posts in China.
MUexpects that future Visa Bulletins will continue to have positive news, includingslow but continued forward progression in the Chinese and Indian categories. We also expect the Philippine and Worldwidecategories will remain current for the foreseeable future.