The Department of State’s (DOS) December 2017 Visa Bulletin showed some minor movement in some employment-based categories.  Referring to the Final Action Dates, the following are the updates for the December Visa Bulletin:

EB-1: All categories remain current.

EB-2: The cutoff date for worldwide chargeability, El Salvador/Guatemala/Honduras, Mexico, and the Philippines all remain current. India EB-2 and China EB-2 both moved forward slightly less than one month, with India EB-2 cut off at Nov. 1, 2008, and EB-2 China at July 1, 2013.

EB-3:  In the EB-3 category, the cutoff date for worldwide chargeability remains current, as are the El Salvador/Guatemala/Honduras and Mexico categories. The Philippines remains at Jan. 15, 2016, and India EB-3 also remains at Oct. 15, 2016.   The cutoff date for mainland China moved forward slightly to March 8, 2014.

For those in the EB-5 category, the priority date remains current for all applicants other than those born in mainland China, where the cutoff date has not moved and remains at June 15, 2014.

For those seeking to adjust status, The United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) website indicates that the Department’s Application Final Action Dates chart must be used for filing Form I-485.  This has not yet been updated with the December 2017 dates; however, we anticipate that USCIS will continue to follow Application Final Action Dates for August as it has to date.

The Department of State’s (DOS) December 2017 Visa Bulletin showed some minor movement in some employment-based categories.  Referring to the Final Action Dates, the following are the updates for the December Visa Bulletin:

Final Action Dates for Employment-Based Cases

Dates for Filing Employment-Based Visa Applications

This post was written by Patty Elmas, not admitted to the practice of law.