The U.S. Department of State released the July 2017 Visa Bulletin today.
As reported in last month’s special alert on the visa bulletin, the China EB-3 Downgrade Phenomenon is in full effect, with EB-3 China retrogressing substantially by 2 years 9 months. Mr. Charles (“Charlie”) Oppenheim, Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division for the U.S. Department of State (DOS), stated in a stakeholder meeting in April, that due to the increasing number of applications submitted under the EB-3 category, the number of visas available has become restricted thus causing the retrogression. Consequently, very little change is observed in EB-2 China as well, with this category advancing slightly by 22 days.
The earlier imposed final action cut-off date for EB-1 India and China remains in place, and is likely to be unchanged until the new fiscal year (October 1, 2017). Additionally, while EB-2 India advanced slightly by 22 days, EB-3 India advanced significantly by 9 months.
If you have questions about your priority date and how this month’s visa bulletin will impact your green card case, please reach out to your EIG attorney.
PLEASE NOTE: For the month of June, USCIS has made a determination to use the Final Action Dates chart for employment-based categories. At this time, USCIS has not announced whether it will be accepting pre-filings for any employment-based categories for the month of July. 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 July 2017 Visa Bulletin can be further summarized below:
APPLICATION FINAL ACTION DATES (DATES WHEN VISAS MAY BE ISSUED)
EB-1
- Persons in the EB-1 category and born in China are current if they have a priority date before the cut-off date of January 1, 2012. This category remains unchanged.
- Persons in the EB-1 category and born in India are current if they have a priority date before the cut-off date of January 1, 2012. This category remains unchanged.
- All persons in the worldwide quota, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and the Philippines are current. This category remains unchanged.
EB-2
- Persons in the EB-2 category and born in China are current if they have a priority date before the cut-off date of March 22, 2013. This category advanced by 22 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 July 22, 2008. This category advanced by 22 days.
- All persons in the worldwide quota, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and the Philippines are current. This 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 if they have a priority date before the cut-off date of June 8, 2017. This category advanced by 1 month 25 days.
- 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, 2012. This category retrogressed by 2 years 9 months.
- 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 15, 2006. This category advanced by 9 months 1 day.
- 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 May 15, 2014. This category advanced by 1 year 15 days.
EB-4
- Persons in the EB-4 category and born in Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, or Honduras are current if they have a priority date before the cut-off date of August 15, 2015. This category advanced by 1 month.
- Persons in the EB-4 category and born in India are current if they have a priority date before the priority date before the cut-off date of August 15, 2015. This category has retrogressed.
- Persons in the worldwide quota, China, and the Philippines are current. This 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 June 8, 2014. This category remains unchanged
- Persons in the worldwide quota, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Mexico, and the Philippines are current. This category remains unchanged.
DATES FOR FILING APPLICATIONS (EARLIEST DATES WHEN APPLICANTS MAY BE ABLE TO APPLY)
EB-1
- All countries are current. This category remains unchanged.
EB-2
- Persons in the EB-2 category and born in China are current if they have a priority date before the cut-off date of October 1, 2013. This 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 1, 2009. This category remains unchanged.
- Persons in the worldwide quota, Mexico, and the Philippines are current. This category remains unchanged.
EB-3
- Persons in the EB-3 category and born in China are current if they have a priority date before the cut-off date of September 1, 2015. This 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 October 1, 2006. This category advanced by 5 months 10 days.
- 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, 2015. This category advanced by 1 year.
- Persons in the worldwide quota and Mexico are current. This category remains unchanged.
EB-4
- All countries are current. This 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, and the Philippines are current. This category remains unchanged.
The complete Visa Bulletin for July 2017 can be found here.