Department of State June 2016 Visa Bulletin Summary

The Department of State released the June 2016 Visa Bulletin this week.  D&S provides a Monthly Summary of the family and employment-based priority dates.  For the second and third employment-based preference categories, Application Filing dates remained unchanged with the exception of EB-3 Other Workers which saw forward movement of almost 14 months from April 8, 2008 to August 1, 2009.

There was significant retrogression in several employment-based categories including EB-2 India, which retrogressed over 4 years from November 22, 2008 to October 1, 2004.  EB-2 and EB-3 China also both experienced significant retrogression with EB-2 China retrogressing over 2 years from September 1, 2012 to January 1, 2010 and EB-3 China retrogressing over 3 years from August 15, 2013 to January 1, 2010, making EB-2 and EB-3 China priority dates the same for the coming month.

EB-3 India was the only employment-based category that moved forward with a modest advancement of 3 weeks from September 1, 2004 to September 22, 2004. Final Action dates for EB-3 Worldwide and EB-3 Mexico also remained unchanged and EB-3 Philippines progressed approximately 3 months.

The EB-5 China Final Action date advanced by just one week from February 8, 2014 to February 15, 2014.  

As of today, May 10, 2016, USCIS has not advised whether in June 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.

D&S will provide further updates as they become available.

USCIS Announces Adjustment of Status Filing Dates for December

USCIS has announced that for December, Family-Based Adjustment of Status applicants can use the "Filing Dates" listed on the Department of State's December 2015 Visa Bulletin. Employment-Based Applicants, however, can only use the "Final Action Dates" to determine when they are eligible to submit Adjustment of Status applications. 

This announcement comes after USCIS issued updated instructions regarding the use of the Revised Visa Bulletin, implemented in September 2015, which contains two sets of dates for both family-based and employment-based immigrant visas. 

Department of State December 2015 Visa Bulletin Summary

The Department of State released the December 2015 Visa Bulletin today.  D&S provides a Monthly Summary of the family and employment based priority dates.  This month, the Final Action date for EB-2 India advanced by ten (10) months to June, 1, 2007.  The Final Action date for EB-2 China, however, remained unchanged at February 1, 2012.  The Final Action date for EB-3 India saw a modest progression of less than a month to April 22, 2004 and EB-3 China advanced 3.5 months to April 15, 2012. The Final Action date for EB-5 China advanced three (3) weeks to December 15, 2013.  

This month there was no movement in the Application Filing dates for any of the employment-based preference categories.  Finally, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has yet to confirm whether they will continue to accept adjustment of status applications for individuals whose Application Filing dates remain current in December.  D&S will continue to monitor USCIS’s Visa Bulletin page and provide an update when the agency announces later this month whether it will continue to accept these applications.

Department of State November 2015 Visa Bulletin Summary

The Department of State released the November 2015 Visa Bulletin today.  D&S provides a Monthly Summary of the family and employment based priority dates.  This month, the Filing dates for China and India remained unchanged for both the EB-2 and EB-3 preference categories. The Final Action dates for EB-2 India progressed a little over a year to August 1, 2006, and EB-3 India progressed just under one month to April 1, 2004. EB-2 China had a modest progression of one month to February 1, 2012 and EB-3 China progressed approximately 2.5 months to January 1, 2012.  Finally, the EB-5 China Filing date held steady at May 1, 2015 and the Final Action date progressed a little over one month to November 22, 2013.

The release of the November 2015 Visa Bulletin is further confirmation that the original October 2015 Visa Bulletin (originally released on September 9, 2015) which was superseded by an updated version (released on September 25, 2015) will not be restored at this time, despite the pending federal class action lawsuit filed against the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State. While the underlying lawsuit remains pending, earlier this week the U.S. District court denied the plaintiff's request for a temporary restraining order which would have forced the government to revert to the original version of the October 2015 Visa Bulletin. 

D&S will continue to monitor this and post updates as they become available.

Department of State Issues Revised October Visa Bulletin, EB-2 China and India Filing Dates Retrogress

Today, September 25, 2015, the Department of State (DOS) released a revised October Visa Bulletin. The revised version supersedes the version that was originally published only a few weeks ago, on September 9, 2015. The changes come on the heels of the announcement made by USCIS and DOS earlier this month, implementing revised procedures for determining immigrant visa availability.  The agencies indicate that the revisions have been made to "better reflect a timeframe justifying immediate action in the application process."

The revisions impact the Family-Based Filing Dates for F-1 and F-3 Mexico, the Employment-Based Filing Dates for EB-2 China and India, as well as EB-3 and "Other Workers" for the Philippines, and delay when individuals in these categories will become eligible to file an application for adjustment of status.

D&S has updated the monthly Summary of the family and employment based priority dates to reflect these changes, including the new dates in bold. 

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.