The March 2018 Visa Bulletin (VB) is largely similar to last month’s bulletin, with the significant exception of movement once again in the EB-5 category. Backlogs continue in the EB-2 and EB-3 categories for both India and China, as well as the EB-3 category for the Philippines. With the short term extension of the EB-5 pilot program passed by Congress on February 9, 2018, both the non-regional center EB-5 category and the regional center EB-5 category for all countries are current, with the exception of China. China EB-5 non-regional and regional categories have priority dates of July 22, 2014, reflecting no movement.
This month’s VB highlights are as follows:
EB-1: All countries remain current and are expected to remain current in the coming months. However, there continues to be a possibility of retrogression of the final action dates for China and/or India later in the fiscal year (which starts October 1, 2018), as was the case last fiscal year.
EB-2: Apart from India and China, all countries are current and are expected to remain so in the foreseeable future. China and India continue to be the exceptions in that they both have final action dates that continue to experience little movement forward, and neither country is anticipated to experience meaningful movement for the next few months. China’s EB-2 and EB-3 categories continue to be “flipped,” in that the priority dates for EB-3 continue to be slightly more favorable, by one year, than EB-2 for China.
EB-3: The final action dates in this category for China and the Philippines did not experience any meaningful advancement. The final action dates for India moved forward by approximately one year. Unfortunately, all three countries are expected to move forward only incrementally in the coming months. All other countries are current and are expected to remain so in the coming months.
EB-5: On February 9, 2018, the Trump Administration signed into law a “Continuing Resolution” passed by Congress, reauthorizing the EB-5 pilot program to March 23, 2018. Both the non-regional and regional EB-5 categories are now current with the exception of China, which has experienced no movement from last month.
General Notes on Final Action Dates: The final action or cutoff date is effectively one’s place in line to immigrate based on the individual’s priority date. Individuals with priority dates earlier than the listed cut-off date on the VB are eligible for adjustment of status (or consular visa applications) or, if their applications are already pending, may have their cases adjudicated. If one’s priority date is not “current”, neither agency may adjudicate an immigrant case because the “visa is not available” if the final action dates is not “current.” The priority date is established in a number of ways:
- PERM: The date on which the application is filed with the Department of Labor, provided that the PERM is approved and an I-140 is then filed and approved based on the PERM.
- EB1 & EB2 (NIW, Schedule A): The date on which the I-140 is filed with the USCIS, provided that the petition is approved.
- EB-5: The date on which the Form I-526, Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur is received by USCIS, provided that the petition is approved.
- Family-based immigration cases: The date on which the I-130 is filed with the USCIS, provided that the petition is approved.
Note that DOS looks at one’s country of birth in determining whether one is a national of a given country, not the country of citizenship. It is country of birth (principal alien or his/her spouse) that determines the country of “chargeability” to be counted against for purposes of permanent residency. Counting against the country of birth of one’s spouse is called “cross-chargeability.”
For general information on visa retrogression, please see our FAQ on this subject. For more information on the Visa Bulletin and country quota movements, including information about movement in the Family-Based Quotas, please see our DOS Visa Bulletin and Quota Movement page.
