The Department of State (DOS) December 2018 Visa Bulletin shows some movement in employment-based categories. The EB-1 category will advance three months in all countries, with China and India advancing to Sept. 1, 2016, and all other countries will move forward to July 21, 2016. The EB-2 category remained current for all countries except China, advancing to July 1, 2015, and India, advancing to April 1, 2009. Although most countries will remain current in the EB-3 category, China will advance by one week to June 8, 2015, India will advance by two months to March 1, 2009, and the Philippines will advance by one week to June 15, 2017. As mentioned in our previous blog post, the EB-3 India final action date moved very rapidly over the past year, advancing almost a year and a half. Current demand projections make it likely that EB-3 India could surpass EB-2 India at some point this fiscal year. As noted above, India will advance two months in the EB-3 category in December. GT will be closely monitoring these advancements as they unfold.

Referring to the Final Action Dates, following are updates from the September Visa Bulletin:

EB-1: Mainland China and India will advance, with a cutoff date of Sept. 1, 2016, while El Salvador/Guatemala/Honduras, Mexico, Philippines, and Vietnam all moved forward to July 1, 2017.

EB-2: For the cutoff date for worldwide chargeability, El Salvador, Mexico, Philippines, and Vietnam are all now current. Mainland China will move to July 1, 2015; India had slight movement to April 1, 2009.

EB-3: In the EB-3 category, for the worldwide chargeability, El Salvador/Guatemala/Honduras cutoff is Feb. 22, 2016, Mexico will move to Jan. 1, 2017, and all other countries will remain current.

For those in the EB-5 category, the priority date remains current for all applicants other than those born in Mainland China and Vietnam, where the cutoff for China will advance slightly to Aug. 22, 2014, and for Vietnam it will advance significantly to May 1, 2016.

For those seeking to adjust status, The United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) website indicates that the department’s Dates for Filing chart must be used for filing Form I-485. This is generally not the case, as USCIS usually requires that applicants use the “Application for Final Action Dates,” which typically reflects earlier cutoff dates than that “Dates for Filing” chart.

Referring to the Final Action Dates, following are updates for the December Visa Bulletin:

Final Action Dates for Employment-Based Preference Cases

Dates for Filing of Employment-Based Visa Applications