Department of State November 2016 Visa Bulletin Summary

The Department of State released the November 2016 Visa Bulletin this week.  D&S provides a Monthly Summary of the family and employment-based priority dates.  For the employment-based preference categories, Application Filing dates remained unchanged.

For EB-3 India, there was modest forward movement of one week to March 8, 2005. EB-2 India there was forward movement of almost 10 months to November 1, 2007.  EB-2 China, progressed 5 months to July 15, 2012 and EB-3 China progressed 3 months to April 15, 2013.  

Final Action dates for EB-3 Worldwide and EB-3 Mexico progressed 1 month to July 1, 2016 and EB-3 Philippines progressed 4 months to April 1, 2011.

EB-5 China Final Action dates progressed 2 weeks to March 8, 2014

As of today, October 13, 2016, USCIS has not advised whether, in November 2016, it will accept adjustment of status applications for family and employment-based petitions based on final action dates or application filing dates.

Department of State April 2016 Visa Bulletin Summary

The Department of State released the April 2016 Visa Bulletin this week.  D&S provides a Monthly Summary of the family and employment-based priority dates.  For the employment-based preference category, Application Filing dates remained unchanged and there was modest forward movement in the Final Action dates for most preference categories. EB-2 & EB-3 India both advanced 3 weeks with EB-2 India moving from October 15, 2008 to November 8, 2008 and EB-3 India progressing from July 15, 2004 to August 8, 2004.  EB-2 China Final Action dates progressed 1 month from August 1, 2012 to September 1, 2012 and EB-3 China Final Action dates progressed 2.5 months from June 1, 2013 to August 15, 2013.  Moreover, Final Action dates for EB-3 Worldwide and EB-3 Mexico both progressed 1.5 months from January 1, 2016 to February 15, 2016. The EB-5 China Final Action date advanced by just 1 week from January 22, 2014 to February 1, 2014.  As of today, March 10, 2016, USCIS has not advised whether in April 2016, it will accept adjustment of status applications for family or employment-based petitions based on filing dates, rather than final action dates. USCIS anticipates that this information will be released within one week of the monthly Visa Bulletin.

Department of State March 2016 Visa Bulletin Summary

The Department of State released the March 2016 Visa Bulletin this week.  D&S provides a Monthly Summary of the family and employment-based priority dates.  For the employment-based preference category, there was forward movement in the Final Action date for EB-2 India, which advanced 2.5 months from August 1, 2008 to October 15, 2008.  The Final Action date for EB-3 India progressed just one month to July 15, 2004.  There was forward movement in both the Filing dates and the Final Action dates for EB-2 and EB-3 China.  For EB-2 China, the Filing date progressed 5 months from January 1, 2013 to June 1, 2013 and the Final Action date progressed 5 months from March 1, 2012 to August 1, 2012.  For EB-3 China the Filing date progressed 1 year and 7 months from October 1, 2013 to May 1, 2015 and the Final Action date progressed 8 months from October 1, 2012 to June 1, 2013.  Moreover, the Filing dates for EB-3 Worldwide and EB-3 Mexico will be current and the Final Action dates will progress 3 months from October 1, 2015 to January 1, 2016. EB-5 China Final Action Dates advanced by just 7 days from January 15, 2014 to January 22, 2014.  As of today, February 9, 2016, USCIS has not advised whether in March 2016, it will accept adjustment of status applications for family or employment-based petitions based on filing dates, rather than final action dates. USCIS anticipates that this information will be released within one week of the monthly Visa Bulletin.

Department of State February 2016 Visa Bulletin Summary

The Department of State released the February 2016 Visa Bulletin today.  D&S provides a Monthly Summary of the family and employment-based priority dates.  This month, there was no forward movement in any employment-based or family-based Filing Dates.  For the employment-based preference category Final Action Dates, there was forward movement for EB-2 India, which advanced 5 months from February 1, 2008 to August 1, 2008.  EB-2 China advanced one month from February 1, 2012 to March 1, 2012. EB-3 Worldwide and Mexico remained unchanged and EB-3 China, India, and the Philippines all saw forward movement of between 1 and 3 months. EB-5 China Final Action Dates advanced by just 7 days from January 8, 2014 to January 15, 2014.  As of today, January 8, 2016, USCIS has not advised whether in February 2016, it will accept adjustment of status applications for family or employment-based petitions based on filing dates, rather than final action dates. USCIS anticipates that this information will be released within one week of the monthly Visa Bulletin.

Department of State January 2016 Visa Bulletin Summary

The Department of State released the January 2016 Visa Bulletin today.  D&S provides a Monthly Summary of the family and employment-based priority dates.  This month, there was forward movement in the Filing Dates and the Final Action Dates for many of the family-based preference categories. For the employment-based preference categories, there was forward movement in the Final Action Date for EB-2 India, which advanced 8 months from June 1, 2007 to February 1, 2008 with the Filing Date remaining unchanged.  The Filing Date and Final Action Date for EB-2 China remained unchanged. The Final Action Dates for EB-3 Worldwide, China, India, Mexico, and the Philippines all saw forward movement of between 1 and 3 months.  The Filing Dates for EB-3 Worldwide and EB-3 Mexico advanced from September 1, 2016 to January 1, 2016, with the other EB-3 Filing Dates remaining unchanged.  The Filing Date for EB-5 China remained unchanged and the Final Action Date advanced by just under 1 month from December 15, 2013 to January 8, 2014. 

DEPARTMENT OF STATE SEPTEMBER 2015 VISA BULLETIN SUMMARY

The Department of State released the September 2015 Visa Bulletin today.  D&S provides a monthly Summary of the family and employment based priority dates.  This month, there was forward movement in most family-based and employment-based visa categories with the exception of EB-2 India and China, both of which retrogressed to January 1, 2006 (a retrogression of almost 3 years for EB-2 India and almost 8 years for EB-2 China).  EB-3 India and China both progressed over 6 months from June 1, 2004 to December 22, 2004.  EB-5 China, which retrogressed for the first time in June 2015, experienced a moderate progression from September 1, 2013 to September 22, 2013.