In the June 2019 Visa Bulletin (VB), the EB-1 category remains retrogressed for all countries, with India retrogressing further due to demand. The EB-2 and EB-3 categories continue to be current for all countries except for India and China (and the Philippines in the EB-3 category). Both the regional center and non-regional center EB-5 categories have returned to being current for all countries except China and Vietnam, as the regional center program was extended through to September 30, 2019, although India is expected to retrogress in this category next month.
This month’s VB highlights are as follows:
EB-1: All countries remain retrogressed. China has a final action date of February 22, 2017, whereas India’s final action date has retrogressed further to January 1, 2015. All other countries have a final action date of April 22, 2018. India is expected to match China’s current final action date in the October 2019 VB, which is the start of the new fiscal year.
EB-2: Apart from India and China, all countries are current, and are expected to remain current in the coming months. China and India continue to be the exceptions in that both countries have final action dates that have experienced very little movement since last month’s VB, and neither country is anticipated to experience meaningful movement for the next few months.
EB-3: Apart from the Philippines, China and India, all countries are current. While China and India are not anticipated to experience any meaningful movement in the coming months, the Philippines is expected to continue to see some movement, but this forward movement is not expected to last indefinitely as demand is generated.
EB-5: On February 15, 2019, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019 (H.J.Res.31) authorized the regional center program through to September 30, 2019. As such, the regional center final action dates for all countries have returned to being current for all countries except for China and Vietnam. Due to demand, India is expected to retrogress in that there will be a final action date in the July 2019 VB, and is expected to further retrogress to the same final action date as China in the August 2019 VB. Similarly, Vietnam is also expected to retrogress to China’s final action date in the August VB. However, Vietnam and India are expected to move forward by a couple years in the October 2019 VB.
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 to submit applications 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 accept the case for processing nor adjudicate a pending case because the “visa is not available” if the final action dates is not “current.” The priority date is established 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.
