The DOS Visa Bulletin for December 2009 shows a small date change for the employment-based third preference (EB3) category for India-born individuals to May 1, 2001. All other categories carry over from the November visa bulletin. The EB3 date for all countries other than India remains June 1, 2002. All countries other than India and China remain "current" in the EB2 category. For China, the EB2 priority date remains April 1, 2005. For India-born individuals, the EB2 priority date remains January 22, 2005. Employment-based first preference (EB1) remains current for all countries.

It is important to note that "nationality" is not the same as citizenship. Generally, DOS looks at the country of birth in determining whether a person is a national of a given country. As a result, persons who become citizens of other countries (i.e., Indians who become Canadian citizens) are still considered nationals of their birth country for immigrant visa purposes.

For general information on visa retrogression, please see our FAQ on this subject. For more information on the Visa Bulletin and country quota movements, including information about movement in the Family-Based Quotas, please see our DOS Visa Bulletin and Quota Movement page which includes detailed nationality-specific charts of quota movement since 1996

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