The U.S. Department of State released the June 2017 Visa Bulletin today.
Most notably, EB-1 India and China has retrogressed, with next month’s Visa Bulletin imposing a final action cut-off date for these categories. During the AILA (American Immigration Lawyers Association) Liason’s monthly check-in with Mr. Charles (“Charlie”) Oppenheim, Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division for the U.S. Department of State (DOS), on April 16, 2017, he predicted the implementation of a cut-off date for EB-1 China and India due to the increasingly high number of applications being submitted in these categories.
Next month’s Visa Bulletin reports slight advancements from the May 2017 Final Action Dates Chart. Very little change is seen in EB-2 China, with this category advancing only by 21 days, while EB-3 China remains unchanged. This is partly due to what Charlie calls the China EB-3 Downgrade Phenomenon, whereas the gap between EB-2 China and EB-3 China widens, as individuals submit applications to downgrade to EB-3 restricting the number of visas available in that category and allowing EB-2 China to advance. Similarly EB-2 and EB-3 India sees little to no advancement, with EB-2 India advancing by 9 days, and EB-3 India advancing by 1 month 20 days. Additionally, the EB-3 category for the Philippines has advanced by 4 months, while the EB-3 category for Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and the worldwide quota have advanced by 1 month.
PLEASE NOTE: For the month of May, 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 June. 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 June 2017 Visa Bulletin can be further summarized below:
Application Final Action Dates (dates when visas may be issued)
EB-1
- Persons in the EB-1 category and born in China are current if they have a priority date before the cut-off date of January 1, 2012. This category has retrogressed.
- 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, 2012. This category has retrogressed.
- All persons in the worldwide quota, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and the Philippines 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 advanced by 21 days.
- 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, 2008. This category advanced by 9 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 April 15, 2017. This category advanced by 1 month.
- 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, 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 May 15, 2005. This category advanced by 1 month 20 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, 2013. This category advanced by 4 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 June 8, 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.
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 October 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 February 1, 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 September 1, 2015. 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 22, 2006. 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 July 1, 2014. 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 September 01, 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 June 2017 can be found here.