May 2016 Visa Bulletin Released
The U.S. Department of State has released the May 2016 Visa Bulletin and next month’s Visa Bulletin remains consistent with recent Final Action Date trends for India and China.
Most notably, a new column of Final Action Dates has been added for El Salvador/Guatemala/Honduras. For these countries, EB1 and EB2 categories are current, and EB3 categories have cut-off dates in the current year, reflecting the cut-off dates for the All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed. Additionally, China’s EB3 category has been experiencing an increase in applicants likely due to applicants “downgrading” from the EB2 category. This has caused the EB3 final action date to remain unchanged for the month of May.
As before, the EB1 categories for all countries remain current in Final Action Dates with only slight movement in the EB2 and EB3 categories. India in particular is experiencing some advancement in the EB2 and EB3 categories, but only slightly. Additionally, the Philippines continue to experience significant advancements in the next month. China stays consistent in all categories in the coming month.
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. 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 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 November 22, 2008. This category has advanced by 14 days.
- The worldwide quota, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, 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 remains 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 August 15, 2013. This category remains unchanged.
- Persons in the EB-3 category and born in El Salvador, Guatemala, or Honduras are current if they have a priority date before the cut-off date of February 15, 2016.
- Persons in the EB-3 category and born in India are current if they have a priority date before the cut-off date of September 1, 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 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 August 8, 2008. This category has advanced by 3 months and 7 days.
EB-4
- 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 January 1, 2010.
- The worldwide quota, China, India, Mexico, and the Philippines 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 8, 2014. This category has advanced by 7 days.
- The worldwide quota, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, 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 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 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 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 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 May 2016 can be found here.