Visa Bulletin of July ’08: EB-3 Unavailable

The Department of State released the July Visa Bulletin on June 10. After a moderate leap last month, EB-2 for applicants born in China and India shows no change at all. Moreover, EB-3 visa numbers have been exhausted in last month, and are now unavailable for applicants from all over the world.

The following are cut-off dates for employment-based immigration petitions. The dates in parentheses are the cut-off dates from last month.

For people born in mainland China:
EB-1: Current (Current)
EB-2: April 1, 2004 (April 1, 2004)
EB-3: Unavailable (March 22, 2003)

For people born in India:
EB-1: Current (Current)
EB-2: April 1, 2004 (April 1, 2004)
EB-3: Unavailable (November 1, 2001)

For all chargeability areas except China, India, Mexico, and Philippines:
EB-1: Current (Current)
EB-2: Current (Current)
EB-3: Unavailable (March 1, 2006)

The situation for EB-3 has been the worst in the visa bulletin for a long time. Now EB-3 visa numbers have become unavailable again. This is because visa numbers in this category are widely oversubscribed. Therefore, many aliens, especially those from China and India, show little interest in EB-3. However, this is a misunderstanding. Although visa numbers are not currently available, applicants can still take advantage of EB-3 PERM applications to get an earlier priority date, and then transfer this priority date to other EB immigration categories in the future. In addition, filing an EB-3 PERM application can also help with an H-1B extension after the 6-year maximum term. For details about these advantages, please refer to our article.  Please note, visa numbers being “unavailable” means that applicants cannot file I-485 applications; they can still file PERM applications.

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Founded in 1996, Zhang & Associates, P.C. offers legal services to clients nationwide in all aspects of U.S immigration law. We have successfully handled thousands of immigration cases.

At Zhang & Associates, P.C., our attorneys and supporting professionals are committed to providing high-quality immigration and non-immigration visa services. We specialize in NIW, EB-1, PERM, and I-485 cases. In the past twelve years, we have successfully helped thousands of clients get green cards. If you plan to apply for a green card, please send your CV to Attorney Jerry Zhang (info@hooyou.com) for a free evaluation.

Zhang & Associates, PC.

Houston ∙ New York ∙ Chicago ∙ Austin
Tel：1-800-230-7040, 713-771-8433
Email: info@hooyou.com
website：http://www.hooyou.com

(06/11/2008)

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