February 2016 Visa Bulletin: EB-2 India and China Final Action Dates Will Advance Next Month; Moderate Advancements for EB-3 India, China and the Philippines, and EB-5 China

United States

According to the State Department’s February Visa Bulletin, the cutoff date for final issuance of an immigrant visa will advance by six months for EB-2 India, to August 1, 2008, and by one month for EB-2 China, to March 1, 2012. 

Cutoff dates for EB-3 professionals and skilled workers will moderately advance for India, China and the Philippines, while remaining the same for all other countries.  For EB-3 professional workers, the final issuance cutoff dates will move forward by one month for India, to June 15, 2004, by three months for China, to October 1, 2012, and by over two months for the Philippines, to January 8, 2008.  For EB-3 skilled-workers, India will progress by one month, to June 15, 2004, and China will progress by three weeks, to December 22, 2006.  

Final action cutoff dates for EB-5 China, in both the Regional Center and non-Regional Center programs, will advance by one week, to January 15, 2014.  

There will be no advancement in cutoff dates for eligibility to file an application for permanent residence.  Next week, USCIS is expected to determine whether it will accept adjustment of status applications from foreign nationals with a priority date that makes them eligible to file in February.  The agency has not accepted these applications in January and will announce whether it will begin doing so in February on its own Visa Bulletin web page. 

EMPLOYMENT-BASED PRIORITY DATE CUTOFFS FOR FEBRUARY 2016

This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen.

 

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