AILA regularlychecks in with Charlie Oppenheim, who is the Department of State’s expert onVisa Bulletin numbers.  Their most recentCheckIn with Charlie contains his projections for several major visa categories.
EB-3 Philippines
The expectation isthat Philippines EB-3 VB date will continue to advance a few months at a time,consistent with movement over the past few months.  He “hopes” that the date will progress intomid-2010 before the end of this fiscal year in September 2016.
There are currentlyabout 4,200 immigrant visas in the pending demand file.  The Texas Service Center has 1,600, the NebraskaService Center has 1,200, and the US Consulate in Manila has 1,400.
Charlie expects EB2Philippines to be current for the foreseeable future.
EB-2 and EB-3 India
Both India EB-2 andEB-3 will move slowly forward, although because of unusual demand for EB-1 itis difficult for Charlie to accurately predict movement in these categories.  Normally, light demand for EB-1 numbers meansthat unused EB-1s trickle down into the EB-2 category.  The government is also seeing increased upgradedemand, where previously approved EB-3s are now being re-field as EB-2s.
New Final ActionDate for EB-4 for El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras
The usual sight ofthese countries appearing on the Visa Bulletin is because of demand for EB-4 SpecialImmigrant Juvenile (SIJS) applicants. While this means retrogression for these categories, it should have noimpact on the traditional EB-1, EB-2, or EB-3 categories in other countries.
EB-2 and EB-3China
It will likely benecessary to retrogress these categories due to increasing demand for theseimmigrant visas.