The U.S. Department of State (DOS) released the July 2019 Visa Bulletin.
Cut-off dates remain effective for the EB-1 categories with no movement forward in any of the categories. The Department of State stated in Section G of the July visa bulletin that due to the increased demand, the EB-1 worldwide category is expected to see little to no movement requiring ‘corrective action’ for September; little to no movement is expected for EB-1 China; and no movement is expected for EB-1 India before October 2019, the start of the new fiscal year.
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. For more information, please visit the USCIS website.
The July 2019 Visa Bulletin can be found here and is summarized below:
Application Final Action Dates (dates when visas may be issued)
- 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 April 22, 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 May 8, 2017. This category advanced by 2 months 16 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.
- Persons in the EB-2 category and born in Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, the Philippines, Vietnam, or in the worldwide quota are current. These categories remain 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 November 1, 2016. This category advanced by 3 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 April 24, 2009. This category advanced by 5 days.
- Persons in the EB-3 category and born in Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Vietnam, 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 January 1, 2016. This category advanced by 8 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 July 1, 2009. This category remains unchanged.
- Persons in the EB-3 category and born in the Philippines are current. This category is now current.
- 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 July 1, 2016. This category advanced by 3 months.
- Persons in the EB-4 category and born in Mexico are current if they have a priority date before the cut-off date of July 1, 2016. This category retrogressed by 2 years 3 months.
- Persons in the worldwide quota, China, India, the Philippines or Vietnam are current. These 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 1, 2014. This category 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 May 1, 2017. This category was previously current.
- Persons in the EB-5 Non-Regional Center (C5 and T5) category and born in Vietnam are current if they have a priority date before the cut-off date of October 1, 2016. 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, Vietnam, 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 worldwide quota, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Mexico, or the Philippines are current. This category remains unchanged.
- Persons in the EB-2 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-2 category and born in China are current if they have a priority date before the cut-off date of February 1, 2017. This category advanced by 3 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 June 1, 2009. 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. 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 January 1, 2016. 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 April 1, 2010. This category remains unchanged.
- Persons in the EB-3 category and born in the Philippines are current. This category is now current.
- Persons in the worldwide quota, China, India, Mexico, the Philippines, or Vietnam are current. This category remains unchanged.
- Persons in the worldwide quota, El Salvador, Guatemala, or Honduras are current if they have a priority date before the cut-off date of September 1, 2016. This category remains unchanged.
- 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 1, 2014. This category remains unchanged.
- 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 July 2019 can be found here.