February 2017 Visa Bulletin Released
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) recently released the February 2017 Visa Bulletin.
Next month’s Visa Bulletin reports slight advancements from the January 2017 Final Action Dates Chart. Most notably, the EB-2 and EB-3 categories for China have advanced by 1 month and 23 days, respectively. Additionally, the EB-3 category for the Philippines, Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and the worldwide quota has 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 January 2017 Visa Bulletin.
PLEASE NOTE: At this time, USCIS has not announced whether it will be accepting pre-filings for any employment-based categories for the month of February. 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 February 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 November 15, 2012. This 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 April 15, 2008. 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-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 October 1, 2016. This 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 October 1, 2013. This category advanced by 23 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 March 22, 2005. This category advanced by 7 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 October 15, 2011. This category advanced by 2 months, 23 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 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 April 15, 2014. This category advanced by 7 days.
- Persons in the worldwide quota, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Mexico, and the Philippines are current. This category remains unchanged.
Date 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, 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 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, 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 September 1, 2013. This 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 February 2017 can be found here.