Charlie Oppenheim is the Chief of Visa Control and Reporting Division for the U.S. Department of State (DOS) where he is responsible for providing analysis and prediction for immigrant preference categories.  After the release of the July 2016 visa bulletin Mr. Oppenheim provided the following information regarding employment-based petitions to American Immigration Lawyers Association, AILA:

EB-2 and EB-3 – China

The final action date will see no movement after retrogression in the June 2016 visa bulletin.

EB-2 Worldwide & India

Continued high demand for EB-2 numbers in the worldwide category will likely result in a cutoff date by September 2016. Charlie also anticipates that the EB-2 final action date for India will remain one week out from India’s EB-3 date.  Finally, excess availability in the worldwide EB-3 category should facilitate continued slow progression in India’s EB-3 category.

EB-1 China and India

After receiving requests for approximately 4,000 EB-1 numbers worldwide, Charlie predicts that a cut-off date in this category will be imposed in August or September of this year. He anticipates both categories will return to their current status in October.