April 2016 Visa Bulletin Released
The U.S. Department of State has released the April 2016 Visa Bulletin and next month’s Visa Bulletin remains consistent with recent Final Action Date trends for India and China.
Trends show that EB1, EB4, and EB5 India have remained current with no advances or retrogression since 2015. After advancing significantly in September 2015, with retrogression in October 2015, this year the EB3 India category is experiencing slow, steady, and almost unnoticeable advances. However, the EB2 India category has been much more unpredictable. After retrogression in both September and October of 2015, this category advanced in early 2016 and is starting to remain steady, with some advancement.
For China, the EB1, EB4, and EB5 categories have remained current with no advances or retrogression since 2015. EB2 China saw sharp advances in October 2015. This year EB2 China seems to be steady with wait times varying between 3 and 4 years. EB3 China also saw retrogression in August 2015 with a sharp advancement in October 2015. However, this year EB3 has steadily advanced, and is currently at slightly less than 3 years of wait time.
In the April 2016 Visa Bulletin, the Dates for Filing Chart, there have not been any advancements and all categories remain unchanged since the March 2016 Visa Bulletin. PLEASE NOTE: At this time, USCIS is not accepting pre-filings for any employment based categories. EIG will continue to monitor the situation and will notify individuals once their priority date is current for filing. For more information, please visit the USCIS website.
In the April 2016 Final Action Chart, the EB-1 and EB-4 categories remain current and all other areas see an advancement. The Visa Bulletin can be further summarized below:
Application Final Action Dates (dates when visas may be issued):
EB-1
- All countries remain current.
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 September 1, 2012. This category has advanced by 1 month.
- Persons in the EB-2 category and born in India are current if they have a priority date before the cut-off date of November 8, 2008. This category has advanced by 24 days.
- The worldwide quota, Mexico, and the Philippines remain current.
EB-3
- Persons in the EB-3 category and falling into the worldwide quota are current if they have a priority date before the cut-off date of February 15, 2016. This category has advanced by 1 month and 14 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 August 15, 2013. This category has advanced by 2 months and 14 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 August 8, 2004. This category has advanced by 24 days.
- Persons in the EB-3 category and born in Mexico are current if they have a priority date before the cut-off date of February 15, 2016. This category has advanced by 1 month and 14 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 May 1, 2008. This category has advanced by 1 month and 16 days.
EB-4
- All countries remain current.
EB-5
- Persons in the EB-5 category Non Regional Center (C5 and T5) and born in China are current if they have a priority date before the cut-off date of February 1, 2014. This category has advanced by 10 days.
- The worldwide quota, India, Mexico, and the Philippines remain current.
Dates for Filing Applications (earliest dates when applicants may be able to apply):
EB-1
- All countries remain current.
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 June 1, 2013. This category has advanced by 5 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 July 1, 2009. This category remains unchanged.
- The worldwide quota, Mexico, and the Philippines remain current.
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 May 1, 2015. This category has advanced by 1 year and 7 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, 2005. This category remains unchanged.
- 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, 2010. This category remains unchanged.
- The worldwide quota and Mexico are now current.
EB-4
- All countries are current.
EB-5
- Persons in the EB-5 category and born in China are current if they have a priority date before the cut-off date of May 1, 2015. This category remains unchanged.
- The worldwide quota, India, Mexico, and the Philippines remain current.
The complete Visa Bulletin for April 2016 can be found here.