July 2016 Visa Bulletin: Modest Advancement in EB-2 and EB-3 India While China Largely Holds Steady to June Dates

United States

According to the State Department’s July Visa Bulletin, there will be modest advancement in the cutoff dates for final issuance of an immigrant visa for EB-2 and EB-3 India next month, while these cutoff dates for China will remain largely unchanged, as projected last month.

In the EB-2 category, the final action cutoff date for India will advance by one month, to November 1, 2004, and will remain the same for China, at January 1, 2010. 

Final action cutoff dates for EB-3 professionals, skilled workers and other workers will advance by one month for India, to October 22, 2004, by over three months for the Philippines, to February 15, 2009, and by two weeks for all countries except China, to March 1, 2016.  For China, final action cutoff dates for EB-3 professionals and skilled workers will remain at January 1, 2010, while the dates for EB-3 other workers will retrogress by more than three years, to January 1, 2004. 

The final action cutoff dates for EB-5 China, in both the Regional and non-Regional Center programs, will remain unchanged at February 15, 2014.

There will be no advancement in cutoff dates for eligibility to file an application for permanent residence in all backlogged categories, with the exception of China’s EB-3 other worker category, which will advance by four months, to August 1, 2009. In the coming days, USCIS is expected to announce on its own Visa Bulletin web page whether it will accept adjustment of status applications from foreign nationals with a priority date that makes them eligible to file in July.

Employment-Based Immigrant Visa Availability in the Coming Months

The State Department made a number of projections about employment-based visa availability in the remaining months of the fiscal year, which ends on September 30, 2016.  The agency anticipates that EB-1 China and India will retrogress in August or September, but will become current again in October.  It also expects that final action dates for EB-2 and EB-3 China will remain the same for the remainder of the year, while these same categories for India will advance modestly and possibly cross over into early 2005 by September.  EB-3 Philippines is likely to see the most forward movement, advancing to late 2009 or early 2010 by year’s end. 

EB-5 China is expected to advance very slowly both for the remainder of this fiscal year and into next year.

FINAL ACTION CUT-OFF DATES FOR JULY 2016

EB-1
Current for all countries.

EB-2
China: January 1, 2010
India: November 1, 2004
All other countries: Current

EB-3 Professionals and Skilled Workers
China:  January 1, 2010
India: October 22, 2004
Philippines: February 15, 2009

All other countries: March 1, 2016

EB-3 Other Workers
China: January 1, 2004
India: October 22, 2004
Philippines: February 15, 2009
All other countries: March 1, 2016

EB-5
China: February 15, 2014

Current for all other countries and subcategories.

FILING ELIGIBILITY CUT-OFF DATES FOR JULY 2016

EB-1
Current for all countries.

EB-2
China: June 1, 2013
India: July 1, 2009
All other countries: Current

EB-3 Professionals and Skilled Workers
China:  May 1, 2015
India: July 1, 2005
Philippines: January 1, 2010
All other countries: Current

EB-3 Other Workers
China: August 1, 2009
India: July 1, 2005
Philippines: January 1, 2010
All other countries: Current

EB-5
China: May 1, 2015
Current for all other countries and subcategories.

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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