Charlie Oppenheim is the Chief of the Immigrant Visa Control & Reporting Division U.S. Department Of State. Every month Charlie predicts the annual numerical limits on visas that are subdivided by preference, nationality, and category. When the divisions are finalized, they are published in the Visa Bulletin along with other crucial immigrant information.
‘Chats With Charlie’ is a new program by the State Department that addresses if the dates in the visa bulletin will advance or retrogress in the coming future along with important announcements regarding visas and green cards.
Millions of immigrants are in the queue for EB and FB green cards and this program is an essential source for finding out if the dates will move forward or backwards depending upon the category. You might have many questions regarding the limit and issuance of visas, so let’s delve into the topic and see what predictions he has made for FY 2021.
Table Of Content
1. What is the status of the Visa Limit for Financial Year 2021?
2. What will be the limit for Family-sponsored and Employment-Based Visa for the year 2021?
3. What will be the limit for Family-sponsored and Employment-Based Visa for the year 2021?
4. What Are The Employment-Based Final Action Dates?
5. Why is there a delay in the visa interviews?
6. For DV 2021, 100000 Visa numbers were available but only 20 were issued, why?
7. Will The EB-2 Number For India Move Aggressively?
Let’s dive in!
What is the status of the Visa Limit for Financial Year 2021?
The pandemic has a significant impact on the limit for family-sponsored and employment-based visa limits for this year. The family-sponsored visas are issued by the consular posts overseas which have very limited slots for visa appointments due to the ongoing pandemic.
Unfortunately, the limits for the year will be hard to reach as stated by Charlie. The COVID-19 virus has slowed down the processing rates at the overseas post, official post, and the USCIS office too. Since October there has been a predicament to reach the threshold.
What will be the limit for Family-sponsored and Employment-Based Visa for the year 2021?
According to the INA guidelines, Charlie mentions that the family-sponsored limits will be about 2,26,000 as it has been since the fiscal year 2000. The employment-based visa however is expected to reach an all-time high of 2,90,000.
He also mentioned that the employment second preference date for India will continue to advance. The exception, in this case, will be employed in the 5th category in China. In comparison, the dates for all the other countries will be moved up aggressively through the end of the summer.
The use of family-based visas is low due to the ongoing situation and those numbers get added to the EB category.
What Are The Employment-Based Final Action Dates?
According to Charlie, India typically uses the vast majority of employment-based numbers. The reason being that India has the priority dates and preferably the ones in the 2nd and 3rd employment categories.
The priority date implies the date at which you have filed the petition for a visa. Since there is a limit to the number of visas that can be issued by the USCIS, you might have to wait sometime before getting the visa number.
As for now, the final action dates for employment-based or family-based visas for Indians will not be retrogressed in the fiscal year 2021 or the future. These final dates mean the dates at which the green card numbers are available for a country or category.
Why is there a delay in the visa interviews?
The overseas appointments are scheduled by the overseas National Visa Center. This process can begin once the State Department has decided the dates for the month. Then the post can review and analyze the cases which are eligible for visa interview.
As the pandemic has hit the workforce capacity, there is much burden on the post that leads to a limited post-processing ability. If you want to find out more about the types of visas that are being processed currently head to the official website of the Department of State.
For DV 2021, 100000 Visa numbers were available but only 20 were issued, why?
The registration capacity was heavy to maximize the number of people that the state can help with the DV visa. However, it should be kept in mind that many applicants don’t follow through with the process for various reasons.
He also states that the announcement for 100,000 DV visa numbers was made pre-pandemic and selections were made last spring which also affected the number of visas that were issued.
Will The EB-2 Number For India Move Aggressively?
After analyzing the situation, Charlie predicted that the numbers for India EB-2 might move aggressively until September 2021. It is so because the rest of the world also has applicants who need the visa.
He says he will move the India numbers aggressively but at the same time will also make sure if plenty of numbers are available for all the other countries.
The movement of EB-2 and EB-3 for June 2021 is entailed as follows
1. EB-2: China advances five months to May 1, 2017. India advances four months to December 1, 2010. All other countries remain current.
2. EB-3 Professional and Skilled Workers:Â China advances about five months to September 1, 2018. India advances to November 1, 2011. All other countries remain current.
As compared to that figure the movement in the May visa bulletin was –
1. EB-2:Â China and India will both advance by three months. China will advance to December 1, 2016, while India will advance to August 1, 2010. All other countries will remain current.
2. EB-3 Professionals and Skilled Workers: Cutoff dates for China will advance two months to May 15, 2018, and for India will advance five months to February 1, 2011. All other countries will remain current in May.
This prediction by Charlie covers the rest of the fiscal year 2021 which runs through September 30. If you want to know more about the upcoming immigration news and update do check the travel gov youtube channel simultaneously. He issues the visa bulletin on the 10th of each month on the state government official website and fixes the date based on demand.
For all your immigration needs put your trust in the Office Of Prashanthi Reddy, PLLC
