Skilled Worker Priority Dates Move 2 Years Forward
May 17, 2007
The Visa Bulletin released for June 2007 brings good news to certain Filipino workers who are waiting for their priority numbers to become current.
As of June 1, 2007, the State Department will be processing employment-based third preference (EB-3) visa applications for the Philippines with a priority date earlier than June 1, 2005 or earlier.
The EB-3 category covers professionals like accountants, architects, engineers, teachers, medical technologists, pharmacists, physical therapists, occupational therapists and computer professionals and skilled workers with at least two (2) years training or work experience.
EB-3 Projections
The June 2007 Visa Bulletin projects that “there will be additional advances during the coming months,” for many employment-based categories because the level of demand for the immigrant visa numbers was much lower than anticipated.
The State Department cautions, however, that the cut-off date movements should allow for pending adjustment of status cases to be finalized. If the demand (resulting from the adjustment of status cases) exceeds the available visa numbers, the cut-off dates may be adjusted again.
The string of good news for EB-3 workers from the Philippines began last month when the priority date moved from August 1, 2003 based on the May 2007 Visa Bulletin to June 1, 2005, making close to a 2-year leap forward from the EB-3 immigrant visa processing backlog.
Other Worker Category
The Other Worker category for the Philippines will also experience some relief this June as the priority date moves to October 1, 2001. This category covers mostly domestic workers such as nannies, general houseworker, adult companions, child monitors, personal care aides, home health aides and the like.
The May 2007 Visa Bulletin reported that visas for this group was unavailable, which meant no immigrant visa applications for them could be processed because of oversubscription.
The State Department points out, however, that the reason for the relief from the unavailability of Other Worker immigrant visa numbers was due to the return of unused numbers from April 2007. Unfortunately, the visa numbers for Other Worker category will be unavailable again by July 2007 and will remain so through September 30, 2007.