Special Alert: April 2018 Visa Bulletin Released

Notable changes are reflected in the April 2018 Visa Bulletin. Primarily, the EB-1 India and China categories will have a cut-off date of January 1, 2012; these categories were previously current. At this time, there is no indication as to when these categories will revert back to being current.

Secondarily, The EB-3 India category sees some significant changes, with the priority date advancing ahead by 13 months (February 1, 2008). This is a noteworthy change as this category has seen little movement in the previous months. The EB-2 and EB-3 China categories also see steady advances of 7 months and 6 months respectively. EB-2 India moves ahead as well, however at a much slower pace of 7 days.

The EIG team is closely monitoring changes to the monthly visa bulletin and determining the best plan of action for each case. We will be reaching out to individuals whose priority date will be current next month in order to initiate the next step of the green card process. We have also summarized frequently asked questions in our August 8th Issue of the EIG Dispatch. We encourage you to read this article to have a better grasp of the visa bulletin and to understand what your priority date means.

PLEASE NOTE: For the month of March, USCIS has made a determination to use the Final Action Dates chart for employment-based, but for family-based categories is accepting applications based on the Dates of Filing chart. At this time, USCIS has not announced whether it will be accepting pre-filings for any employment-based or family-based categories for the month of April. EIG will continue to monitor the situation and provide an update when USCIS has made a determination. For more information, please visit the USCIS website.

The April 2018 Visa Bulletin can be found here and is summarized below:

Application Final Action Dates (dates when visas may be issued)

EB-1
  • Persons in the EB-1 category and born in Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, the Philippines, or in the worldwide quota are currentThis category remains unchanged. 
  • Persons in the EB-2 category and born in China are current if they have a priority date before the cut-off date of January 1, 2012. This category has retrogressed.
  • Persons in the EB-2 category and born in India are current if they have a priority date before the cut-off date of January 1, 2012This category has retrogressed. 
EB-2
  • Persons in the EB-2 category and born in Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, the Philippines, or in the worldwide quota are currentThis category remains unchanged. 
  • Persons in the EB-2 category and born in China are current if they have a priority date before the cut-off date of August 1, 2014. This category advanced by 7 months 24 days.
  • Persons in the EB-2 category and born in India are current if they have a priority date before the cut-off date of December 22, 2008This category advanced by 7 days. 
EB-3
  • Persons in the EB-3 category and born in Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, or in the worldwide quota are currentThis category remains unchanged.
  • Persons in the EB-3 category and born in China are current if they have a priority date before the cut-off date of June 1, 2015This category advanced by 6 months 17 days.
  • Persons in the EB-3 category and born in India are current if they have a priority date before the cut-off date of February 1, 2008This category advanced by 1 year 1 month.
  • Persons in the EB-3 category and born in the Philippines are current if they have a priority date before the cut-off date of January 1, 2017This category advanced by 8 months. 
EB-4
  • Persons in the EB-4 category and born in El Salvador, Guatemala, or Honduras are current if they have a priority date before the cut-off date of December 15, 2015This category advanced by 14 days. 
  • Persons in the EB-4 category and born in Mexico are current if they have a priority date before the cut-off date of August 8, 2016This category advanced by 1 month 7 days.
  • Persons in the worldwide quota, China, India, or the Philippines are currentThis category remains unchanged.
EB-5
  • Persons in the EB-5 Non-Regional Center (C5 and T5) category and born in China are current if they have a priority date before the cut-off date of July 22, 2014This category remains unchanged.
  • Persons in the worldwide quota, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Mexico, or the Philippines are currentThis category remains unchanged. 

Dates for Filing Applications (earliest dates when applicants may be able to apply)

EB-1

  • All countries are currentThis category remains unchanged.
EB-2
  • Persons in the EB-2 category and born in Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, the Philippines, or in the worldwide quota are currentThis category remains unchanged. 
  • Persons in the EB-2 category and born in China are current if they have a priority date before the cut-off date of February 1, 2015This category remains unchanged.
  • Persons in the EB-2 category and born in India are current if they have a priority date before the cut-off date of February 8, 2009This category remains unchanged.
EB-3
  • Persons in the EB-3 category and born in Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, or in the worldwide quota are current. This category remains unchanged. 
  • Persons in the EB-3 category and born in China are current if they have a priority date before the cut-off date of January 1, 2016This category remains unchanged
  • Persons in the EB-3 category and born in India are current if they have a priority date before the cut-off date of April 1, 2008This category advanced by 3 months.  
  • Persons in the EB-3 category and born in the Philippines are current if they have a priority date before the cut-off date of July 1, 2017This category advanced by 9 months.
EB-4 
  • Persons in the worldwide quota, El Salvador, Guatemala, or Honduras are current if they have a priority date before the cut-off date of April 15, 2016This category remains unchanged
  • Persons in the worldwide quota, China, India, Mexico or the Philippines are currentThis category remains unchanged.
EB-5
  • Persons in the EB-5 Non Regional Center (C5 and T5) category and born in China are current if they have a priority date before the cut-off date of September 01, 2014. This category remains unchanged.
  • Persons in the worldwide quota, India, Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, or the Philippines are current. This category remains unchanged.
The complete Visa Bulletin for April 2018 can be found here.