General Observations:
As noted last month, while Charlie is required to work from home and lacks
access to certain government databases, he is unable to provide projections
beyond what is included herein.
As might be expected, immigrant visa (IV) usage was lower than normal in
April 2020 due to the closure of U.S. consulates and USCIS offices.
Notwithstanding these closures, Charlie was pleased to see that
employment-based number usage was respectable in April given the current
situation, and that there has already been decent sized number usage thus
far in May.
Movements in the final action dates and the redistribution of otherwise
unused visa numbers have traditionally been influenced by the demand for
visa numbers in the various categories relative to the annual visa limits.
During the COVID-19 global pandemic, the lack of government capacity to
process applications is proving to be a significant factor in how visa
numbers can be allocated in an effort to maximize fiscal year number usage
consistent with the INA.
Charlie must now take into account the agencies’ capacity to process
applications, in addition to supply and demand, in determining final action
date movements.
Lack of significant EB-1 Worldwide demand, and the existence of a
significant amount of pre-adjudicated demand in EB-1 India makes it possible
for more rapid advancement for EB-1 India.
In contrast, before the COVID-19 pandemic, Charlie warned of high levels of
EB-2 Worldwide demand, which he expected would result in the imposition of a
final action date in that category in the summer.
Although that is no longer likely, the existence of significant worldwide
demand may make it far less likely that the pre-adjudicated demand in EB-2
India can be acted upon.
Where possible, Charlie is doing his best to work with pre-adjudicated
demand to facilitate number usage and is heartened by USCIS’s efforts to
approve employment-based adjustment of status applications.
Nevertheless, he thinks it is unlikely that the employment-based limit will
be reached in FY2020. He noted that he will have a better sense of whether
the limit will be reached after he analyzes the June 2020 data.
Employment-based Preference Categories
EB-1 Worldwide (including El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, Mexico
Philippines and Vietnam) which became current in May 2020 remains current in
June. Given the lack of EB-1 demand and the likelihood of otherwise unused
numbers becoming available from the EB-5 category, this category is expected
to remain current through the end of FY2020.
In June the final action date for EB-1 China will advance one month from
July 15, 2017, to August 15, 2017. EB-1 India will take a significant leap
of over ten months from August 1, 2015, to June 8, 2016.
EB-2 Worldwide (including El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, Mexico
Philippines and Vietnam) remains current in June, with EB-2 China again
advancing at the pace of one month from October 1, 2015, to November 1, 2015
. EB-2 India advances 10 days in June from June 2, 2009, to June 12, 2009.