The Department of State (DOS) has issued its August 2016 Visa Bulletin which reflects retrogression in Employment-Based First Preference (Priority Workers such as Multinational Managers) and Employment-Based Second Preference (Members of the Professions Holding Advanced Degrees) visa applications, and continued high demand in Employment-Based Third Preference visa applications (Skilled Workers, Professionals, and Other Workers).

Employment-Based First (EB-1) Preference Category cutoff date for India and China. Historically, the EB-1 Category was current for all nationals. However, as announced in the July 2016 Bulletin, the August 2016 Bulletin imposes a cutoff date of January 1, 2010, for both India and China. For all other countries, the EB-1 category remains current and for India and China this category is expected to be current again on October 1, 2016 (the first month of fiscal year 2017).

Employment-Based Second (EB-2) Preference Category cutoff date for all nationals. Previously, the EB-2 Category was current for all nationals except for India and China. Due to high demand for the EB-2 category from all nationals, the August 2016 Bulletin imposes a cutoff date for all applicants. This category is projected to be current again starting October 1, 2016.

Continued high demand for Employment-Based Third (EB-3) Preference Category. In the EB-3 category, chargeability for worldwide, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico advanced two weeks from March 1, 2016, to March 15, 2016.The cutoff date for India advanced from October 22, 2004, to November 8, 2004, and the cutoff date for the Philippines advanced by from February 15, 2009, to May 15, 2009.

See the Visa Bulletin for August 2016, including all cutoff dates, at: https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/law-and-policy/bulletin/2016/visa-bulletin-for-august-2016.html.