August 2017 Visa Bulletin

12Jul
2017

August 2017 Visa Bulletin

Department of State released the August 2017 Visa Bulletin. You can access the copy of the Visa Bulletin on the Department of State website here.

Note: USCIS has designated the Final Actions Dates chart for employment based adjustment of status applications within U.S. for August 2017.

Below are some key changes for the employment-based preference categories this month:

Final Action Dates for Employment-Based Preference Cases:

• EB1 China and India remain the same at 01/01/2012. All other EB1 remain current.
• EB2 China moved forward one month from 03/22/2013 to 04/22/2013. EB2 India remains the same at 07/22/2008. All other EB2 retrogressed from current to 04/01/2015.
• EB3 China remains the same at 01/01/2012. EB3 India moved forward five months from 02/15/2006 to 07/15/2006. EB3 Philippines moved forward more than one year from 05/15/2014 to 06/01/2015. All other EB3 moved forward from 06/08/2017 to current.
• EB5 China moved forward one week from 06/08/2014 to 06/15/2014. All other EB5 remain current.

Dates for Filing of Employment-Based Visa Applications:

• All EB1 remain current
• EB2 China remains the same at 10/01/2013. EB2 India remains the same at 02/01/2009. All other EB2 remain current.
• EB3 China remains the same at 09/01/2015. EB3 India moved forward three months from 10/01/2006 to 01/01/2007. EB3 Philippines moved forward six months from 07/01/2015 to 01/01/2016. All other EB3 remain current.
• EB5 China remains the same at 09/01/2014. All other EB5 remain current.

Charles Oppenheim, Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division at the U.S. Department of State, provides analysis of current trends and future projections for the various immigrant preference categories. Mr. Oppenheim’s projections include the following:

• EB-1 China and India. A final action date of January 1, 2012, which was imposed for EB-1 China and EB-1 India in June, remains for August and is expected to hold through the end of this fiscal year.
• EB-2 Worldwide. A final action date of April 1, 2015, will be imposed for EB-2 Worldwide in August. This date is likely to remain the same for September, but there is a possibility that it may retrogress further. However, Mr. Oppenheim is confident that this category will become current again at the start of the new fiscal year on October 1, 2017.
• EB-2 and EB-3 China. In August, the final action date for EB-2 China will advance one month to April 22, 2013. Mr. Oppenheim hopes to advance this date again in September, but it will depend on how much EB-2 China demand materializes in the coming weeks. If this category does not advance in September, it will definitely advance in October when the new fiscal year’s numbers become available.

Updated 07/19/2017