Special Alert: April 2017 Visa Bulletin Released

The U.S. Department of State released the April 2017 Visa Bulletin today.

Next month’s Visa Bulletin reports slight advancements from the March 2017 Final Action Dates Chart. Most notably, the EB-2 and EB-3 categories for China have advanced by 1 month and 5 months, respectively. Additionally, the EB-3 category for the Philippines has advanced by 6 months, while the EB-3 category for Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and the worldwide quota have advanced by 2 months.

Next month’s Visa Bulletin reports no changes in the Dates for Filing Chart. That is, all categories remain unchanged since the March 2017 Visa Bulletin.

PLEASE NOTE: For the month of March, 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 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 2017 Visa Bulletin can be further summarized below:

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

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 January 15, 2013This category 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 June 22, 2008This category advanced by 21 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 February 15, 2017This category advanced by 2 months.
  • 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, 2014This category advanced by 5 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 March 24, 2005This category advanced by 2 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 September 15, 2012This category advanced by 6 months. 
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 July 15, 2015. This category remains unchanged.
  • Persons in the worldwide quota, China, India, 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 May 22, 2014This category advanced by 21 days.
  • 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 March 1, 2013This 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 April  22, 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 May 1, 2014. 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 July 1, 2005This 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 September 1, 2013This category remains unchanged.
  • 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 June 15, 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 April 2017 can be found here.