The Department of State (DOS) has issued its September 2018 Visa Bulletin.  As to be expected in the last month of the fiscal year (the new fiscal year begins on October 1), several categories are no longer current and other categories have experienced significant retrogressions.  Most notably, the Employment-Based (“EB”)-2 category for all nationals worldwide (except for China and India) is no longer current and has retrogressed to January 1, 2013, and the EB-3 category for all nationals worldwide (except for China and India) is no longer current and has retrogressed to November 1, 2016.  EB-1 for Chinese and Indian nationals had no movement.  EB-2 for Indian nationals retrogressed by two years, two months.  EB-3 for Chinese nationals moved forward, while EB-3 for Indian nationals retrogressed by six years.  

EB-1-Worldwide:                June 1, 2016:

                                                One-month advancement from last month’s VB

                        China:            January 1, 2012

                        India:              January 1, 2012

                                                No advancement from last month’s VB

EB-2-Worldwide:                January 1, 2013, except:            

                                                Five-year, seven-month retrogression from last month’s VB                       

                        China:             March 1, 2015

                                                No advancement from last month’s VB

                        India:              January 1, 2007

                                                Two-year, two-month retrogression from last month’s VB

EB-3-Worldwide:                November 1, 2016, except:

                                                Two-year, seven-month retrogression from last month’s VB

                        China:            November 1, 2014

                                                Four-month advancement from last month’s VB

                        India:              January 1, 2003

                                                Six-year retrogression from last month’s VB

USCIS ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS DATES

If USCIS determines that there are more immigrant visas available for a fiscal year than there are known applicants for such visas, the USCIS will state on www.uscis.gov/visabulletininfo that you may use the Dates for Filing Visa Applications chart in the Department of State September 2018 Visa Bulletin. Otherwise, USCIS will indicate on its web site that you must use the Application Final Action Dates chart to determine when you may file your adjustment of status application in the United States. For September 2018, USCIS has not yet determined which dates must be used for employment-based filings.  We expect that they will post this information on their website in the coming days. 

This alert is for informational purposes.  If you would like to discuss these developments further, please do