Starting on July 1, 2005, the third preference employment-based (EB) visa category will be unavailable for all nationalities. All employment-based immigrant visa categories are subject to both a per country maximum quota as well as a maximum quota per category. In a recent Mintz Levin Client Alert, we advised you regarding the visa availability cutoff for the third preference employment category for foreign nationals born in India, mainland China, Mexico, and the Philippines. Immigrant visa backlogs for those nationalities in this category started in January of 2005. As of July 1, 2005, immigrant visas are unavailable for the whole third preference category.
The Department of State (DOS) reports availability of immigrant numbers of qualified applicants for numerically limited visas. They do this on a monthly basis through their Visa Bulletin, which takes into consideration the approval of green card status by U.S. Consulates abroad and by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) through the adjustment of status process.
There are five employment-based preferences: EB-1 for priority workers; EB-2 for members of the professions holding advanced degrees or people with exceptional ability; EB-3 for skilled workers, professionals and other workers; EB-4 for certain special immigrants including religious workers; and EB-5 for employment creation investors. The EB-3 category is made up of approximately 28.6% of the worldwide level of immigrants plus any numbers that are not needed for EB-1 and EB-2 categories.
The employment-based section of the DOS’ Visa Bulletin for July is reprinted below and illustrates visa availability for employment-based categories for July. A "C" means "current," denoting that visa numbers are available for qualified applicants in that category. A "U" means "unavailable," meaning that no visa numbers are available in that category. A new batch of immigrant visa numbers will be available at the start of the government fiscal year on October 1, 2005 and this should relieve pressure on these unavailable categories at least temporarily. Please also note that if an adjustment of status application (I-485) is filed for a foreign national employee while their category is current, that foreign national may continue to receive the benefits of a pending adjustment of status including employment authorization and an advance parole travel document. The adjustment application approval will be delayed until visa numbers are available, but the employee can continue working and traveling regardless of how long this may take, as long as the employee continues to maintain valid Advance Parole and Employment Authorization documents or a valid nonimmigrant work visa status and visa.
The DOS has a recorded message with visa availability information at 202-663-1541. The recording is updated in the middle of each month for the respective month.
|
All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed |
CH |
IN |
ME |
PH |
|
|
Employment-Based |
|||||
|
1st |
C |
C |
C |
C |
C |
|
2nd |
C |
C |
C |
C |
C |
|
3rd |
U |
U |
U |
U |
U |
|
Schedule A Workers |
C |
C |
C |
C |
C |
|
Other Workers |
U |
U |
U |
U |
U |
|
4th |
C |
C |
C |
C |
C |
|
Certain Religious Workers |
C |
C |
C |
C |
C |
|
5th |
C |
C |
C |
C |
C |
|
Targeted Employment Areas/Regional Centers |
C |
C |
C |
C |
C |
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
