JULY 2020 VISA BULLETIN: PROGRESS FOR PHILS AND WW EB-3

The Department of State has just issued the July 2020 Visa Bulletin. This is the tenth Visa Bulletin of Fiscal Year 2020. This blog post analyzes this month's Visa Bulletin.

July 2020 Visa Bulletin

Table A: Final Action Dates -- Applications with these dates may be approved for their Green Card (Permanent Residency card) or Immigrant Visa appointment.

Employment- based	All Other	CHINA	INDIA	PHILIPPINES
1st	C	22AUG17	08MAY17	C
2nd	C	08NOV15	08JUL09	C
3rd	15APR18	22JUN16	01JUN09	15APR18

MU Law Analysis

This Visa Bulletin continued the big progressions that we saw in the June Visa Bulletin.  MU Law has been calling on the DOS to rapidly advance the dates so that all immigrant visas are used in 2020.  Many visas appear that they will go unused without this progression. 

The Worldwide EB-3 dates moved almost six months are now at April 2018, as is the Philippines EB-3.  We continue to expect big progressions in these categories for the August and September VBs because very few visas were used due to the global shutdown caused by COVID-19.

The Indian EB-3 dates moved ahead two months.  It continues to move at a quicker rate than we have seen in years.  India EB-2 even advanced a month.  China EB-2 and EB-3 advanced by one week.  We might see continued progressions of a few weeks or months in these categories for the rest of the fiscal year.

The EB-1 movements were also reassuring.  As was the case last month, India EB-1 progressed another 10 months, reflecting reduced demand.  China EB-1 advanced by a week, as the DOS remains concerned about pending demand.  Limited progressions in EB-1 and EB-2 categories in the future could mean that more visa numbers flow down to EB-3, which would mean more advancement.