Priority cutoff dates for China EB-3 will retrogress to Jan. 1, 2012 according to the State Department’s July Visa Bulletin. Priority dates for India and the Philippines EB-3 categories will advance significantly, and EB-2 China and India will advance slightly in July.

Key movements in priority cutoff dates:

  • China EB-3 will retrogress by nearly three years to Jan. 1, 2012; India EB-3 will advance by nine months to Feb. 15, 2006.
  • China EB-2 will advance by three weeks to Mar. 22, 2013, and India EB-2 will advance by three weeks to July 22, 2008.
  • The Philippines EB-3 category will advance by more than one year to May 15, 2014.
  • The EB-3 category for Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras will advance by eight weeks to June 8, 2017.

Additional notes: All EB-1 and EB-2 categories other than for China and India will remain current. It is likely that the retrogression for certain categories is being undertaken to control the number of visas issued between now and the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, as the number of available immigrant visas runs out. The number of immigrant visas will increase again under the 2018 fiscal year’s annual limits.

Application Final Action Dates for Employment-Based Preference Cases:

Preference China El Salvador Guatemala Honduras India Mexico

 

 Philippines

 

 All Other Countries
EB-1 Jan. 1, 2012 Current Jan. 1, 2012 Current Current Current
EB-2 Mar. 22, 2013 Current July 22, 2008 Current Current Current
EB-3 Jan. 1, 2012 June 8, 2017 Feb. 15, 2006 June 8, 2017 May 15, 2014 June 8, 2017

The State Department also released its Dates for Filing chart for July 2017. Applicants seeking to file for adjustment of status are reminded that the Dates for Filing chart does not take effect unless USCIS confirms it via a web posting in the next week or so. BAL will update clients once the State Department confirms whether the Dates for Filing chart can be used in July.

This alert has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice group. For additional information, please contact BerryApplemanLeiden@bal.com.

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