In the December 2019 Visa Bulletin (VB), the EB-1 category remains retrogressed for all countries. In the EB-2 and EB-3 categories, all countries apart from China and India (and the Philippines in the EB-3 category) have returned to being current. The regional center category under the EB-5 category is unavailable, as it was only extended to November 21, 2019.
This month’s VB highlights are as follows:
EB-1: All countries remain retrogressed. The final action date for all countries have moved up slightly, although India did not experience any movement. This is in line with the forecast that up to the January 2020 VB, all countries are only anticipated to move forward up to three months, although India is expected to experience little, if any, movement.
EB-2: All countries have returned to being current, with the exception of China (which experienced nominal movement) and India (which advanced a mere two days!). This again is in line with the forecast that up to the January 2020 VB, neither India nor China are expected to experience any meaningful movement in the next few months, whereas the all other countries are anticipated to remain current.
EB-3: All countries have returned to being current, although India and China remain the exceptions in that neither experienced any movement. India and China experienced no movement this month, and the Philippines, another exception, experienced only nominal movement forward. Neither India nor China are expected to experience any meaningful movement in the next few months, whereas all other countries are anticipated to remain current. Additionally, the Philippines is expected to move forward by a few months in the coming visa bulletins.
EB-5: The immigrant investor program was extended until November 21, 2019 given the continuing resolution (H.R. 4378 – Continuing Appropriations Act, 2020, and Health Extenders Act of 2019) that was signed on September 27, 2019. As such, the regional center final action dates have become unavailable. In the non-regional center categories, Vietnam, India and China have all advanced nominally, while all other countries remain current. On a related note, November 21, 2019 is the date that a number of changes go into effect for the EB-5 program, including most notably: priority date retention for those filing another EB-5 petition who wish to benefit from the priority date on an earlier EB-5 filing (if the subsequent EB-5 filing was due to circumstances beyond the investor’s control); and the increase in the minimum investment amounts from $1 million to $1.8 million, and from $500,000 to $900,000 if investing in a targeted employment area (i.e., a rural area or an area which experiences at least 150% of the national unemployment rate).
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.
