December 2012 Visa Bulletin – No movement in EB-2 India

December 2012 Visa Bulletin has been released by the U.S. State Department and it shows no movement in EB-2 India Priority Date. There is also the possibility of a cutoff date for EB-5 China in upcoming months.   Several skilled professionals were eagerly awaiting this Visa Bulletin in hopes that EB-2 India priority dates will finally start moving forward.However it appears that EB-2 India may not show much (or any) forward movement during the first couple of months of 2013. Here are the key takeaways from the December 2012 Visa Bulletin:

• EB-1 is current for all the countries and is expected to remain current in upcoming months.
• EB-2 is current for every country except India and China. EB-2 India continues to be severely retrogressed at September 1, 2004. EB-2 China advances by 7 weeks to October 22, 2007. According to the DOS, EB2 India priority date  is not expected to advance in upcoming months.
• EB-3 priority date advances by 1 month for Mexico and Rest of World to November 22, 2006.  EB-3 priority date for Philippines advances by 1 week to August 15, 2006, EB-3 China  date advances by 10 weeks to July 1, 2006. However EB-3 India  priority date advances by only 1 week to November 1, 2002.

The December 2012 Visa Bulletin is obviously disappointing for individuals in EB2 India category but it is not so surprising. The slow movement is consistent with predictions made by DOS, and any major change is unlikely in upcoming months. Priority date movements and predictions will be regularly posted here for our readers.