August 2019 Visa Bulletin

The U.S. Department of State (DOS) released the August 2019 Visa Bulletin.

Cut-off dates remain effective for the EB-1 categories with retrogression for all locations. The Department of State stated in Section D of the August visa bulletin that due to the increased volume of adjustment of status cases filed, it was necessary to retrogress many of the August Final Action Dates to hold worldwide number use. The Department of State anticipates that the implementation of the retrogressed dates will be temporary and states that efforts will be made to return the final action dates to those which applied for July.

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 July, USCIS has made a determination to accept applications based on the Final Action Dates Chart (Chart A) for the employment-based categories and applications based on the Dates for Filing Chart (Chart B) for the family-based categories. 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 August. EIG will continue to monitor the situation and provide an update once USCIS has made a determination. For more information, please visit the USCIS website.

The August 2019 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, Vietnam, or in the worldwide quota are current if they have a priority date before the cut-off date of July 1, 2016. These categories retrogressed by 2 years 3 months 15 days. 
  • Persons in the EB-1 category and born in China are current if they have a priority date before the cut-off date of July 1, 2016. This category retrogressed by 10 months 7 days.
  • 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, 2015. This category remains unchanged. 
EB-2
  • Persons in the EB-2 category and born in Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, the Philippines, Vietnam, or in the worldwide quota are current if they have a priority date before the cut-off date of January 1, 2017. These categories were previously current.
  • 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, 2017. This category advanced by 2 months. 
  • Persons in the EB-2 category and born in India are current if they have a priority date before the cut-off date of May 2, 2009This category advanced by 3 days. 
EB-3
  • Persons in the EB-3 category and born in Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, the Philippines, Vietnam, or in the worldwide quota are current if they have a priority date before the cut-off date of July 1, 2016. These categories were previously current.
  • Persons in the EB-3 category and born in China are current if they have a priority date before the cut-off date of July 1, 2016This category advanced by 6 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 January 1, 2006. This category retrogressed by 3 years 6 months.
EB-4
  • Persons in the EB-4 category and born El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, or Mexico are current if they have a priority date before the cut-off date of July 1, 2016This category remains unchanged.
  • Persons in the EB-4 category and born in China, India, the Philippines, Vietnam, or in the worldwide quota are current. This category remains unchanged.
  • Persons in the worldwide quota, China, India, the Philippines or Vietnam are currentThese categories remain 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 October 15, 2014This remains unchanged.
  • Persons in the EB-5 Non-Regional Center (C5 and T5) category and born in India are current if they have a priority date before the cut-off date of October 15, 2014. This category has retrogressed by 2 years 6 months 16 days.
  • Persons in the EB-5 Non-Regional Center (C5 and T5) category and born in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, the Philippines, or in the worldwide quota are current. This category remains unchanged.

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

EB-1

  • Persons in the EB-1 category and born in Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, the Philippines, or in the worldwide quota are current if they have a priority date before the cut-off date of September 1, 2018. These categories remain unchanged.
  • Persons in the EB-1 category and born in China are current if they have a priority date before the cut-off date of October 1, 2017. 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 October 1, 2017. This category remains unchanged.
EB-2

  • Persons in the EB-2 category and born in  El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, 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, 2017. This categories remain 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 June 1, 2009This category remains unchanged
EB-3

  • Persons in the EB-3 category and born in Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, the Philippines or in the worldwide quota are current. These categories remain 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, 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, 2010This category remains unchanged. 
EB-4 
  • Persons in the EB-4 category and born in China, India, Mexico, the Philippines, Vietnam, or in the worldwide quota are currentThis category remains unchanged.
  • 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 September 1, 2016This 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 November 15, 2014. This category has advanced by 15 days.
  • Persons in the worldwide quota, India, Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, the Philippines or Vietnam are current. These categories remain unchanged.

The complete Visa Bulletin for August 2019 can be found here.