The DOS’s September 2016 Visa Bulletin (VB) looks nearly identical to the August 2016 VB. As advised, the imposed final action dates affecting India and China in the first employment based category are expected to remain in these categories until the new fiscal year starts (i.e. October 1). Similarly, the final action dates imposed for all countries in all the second and third employment based categories are expected to see some changes only in October.
Here are the highlights from the September 2016 VB:
EB-1: The cutoff date established in the August 2016 VB remains as January 1, 2010, for China and India due to the continued high number of USCIS adjustment of status applicants under this category. Fortunately, the Department of State (DOS) previously advised that the final action date for these two countries is anticipated to be current again in October. All other countries remain current.
EB-2: The final action dates imposed for August remains the same in September. Further, the September VB again provides no meaningful movement forward for India, and no movement for China, from the August 2016 VB. No meaningful movement is expected for India, and none at all is expected for China, for the remainder of the fiscal year as advised in the July 2016 VB. The good news is that in the new fiscal year starting in October, all countries (except India and China) should be current again. DOS indicated that both India and China will have some forward movement at the beginning of the new fiscal year.
EB-3: As was the case last month, China did not move forward in the September VB, and no movement is expected in the next few months. As the DOS predicted for India, there was some advancement this month by a few months to February 15, 2005. The Philippines continues to have forward movement with a final action date of July 1, 2010, slightly surpassing DOS’s prediction of a final action date in early 2010 in the next few months. All other countries did not see any real advances in the final action date for August. Based on DOS predictions we do not expect significant changes before the new fiscal year commences.
EB-5: Again, there was no movement for mainland China in either the regional center or non-regional center categories. All other countries remain current in both of these categories.
While the non-regional center final action dates are not expected to fluctuate drastically, much anticipated changes are expected in the new fiscal year for the regional center category for all countries, including China. As was seen in the October 2015 VB, the EB-5 regional center category for all countries became unavailable given the fact that the regional center program was set to sunset on September 30, 2015. However, once the regional center program had been extended, the regional center category for all countries became available again. As such, the November 2015 VB once again had a final action date for China’s regional center category, and the regional center category for all other countries went back to being current. Similarly, changes for the regional center category for all countries are expected to be reflected particularly the October 2016 VB, because so far the Senate only extended the regional center program through the end of this fiscal year.
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 bulletin 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: 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.
