The Department of State (DOS) recently released the September 2017 Visa Bulletin.  The charts show movement in some employment-based categories, with no movement in other employment-based visa categories. According to the September Visa Bulletin, the following are updates to Final Action Dates:

EB-1: The Worldwide EB-1 category for India and China remains stalled at Jan. 1, 2012, while the other categories are current.

EB-2: The cutoff date for worldwide chargeability in the EB-2 category moved from April 1, 2015, to Jan. 1, 2016, with the same movement for El Salvador/Guatemala/Honduras, Mexico, and the Philippines. India EB-2 has moved forward by one month to August 22, 2008, and EB-2 for China moved by almost one month to May 15, 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 cutoff date for mainland China remains stalled at Jan. 1, 2012. The Philippines moved five months, to Nov. 1, 2015. India moved three months, from July 15, 2006, to Oct. 15, 2006.

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 August 2017 dates; however, we anticipate that USCIS will continue to follow Application Final Action Dates for August as it has to date.

Final Action Dates for Employment-Based Cases

Dates for Filing Employment-Based Visa Applications