In the May 2019 Visa Bulletin (VB), the EB-1 category remains retrogressed for all countries. 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.
This month’s VB highlights are as follows:
EB-1: All countries remain retrogressed. India and China have a final action date of February 22, 2017, whereas all other countries have a final action date of March 1, 2018. China and India may experience further retrogression of their final action date due to high demand, but are expected in the October 2019 visa bulletin (i.e. the start of FY 2020) to return to the latest final action date reached during fiscal year 2019.
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. Similarly, the non-regional center final action dates continue to remain current except for China and Vietnam, both of which experienced virtually no movement and neither of which is expected to see any large movement in the coming months. India is anticipated to also have a final action date depending on the demand.
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.
