Priority cutoff dates for the India EB-2 and China EB-2 categories will advance significantly, according to the State Department’s November Visa Bulletin. EB-3 categories will advance more modestly.

Key Advancements: 

  • The priority cutoff date for India EB-2 will advance by almost 10 months to Nov. 1, 2007, while India EB-3 will advance seven days to March 8, 2005.
  • The priority cutoff date for China EB-2 will advance by five months to July 15, 2012, while China EB-3 will advance almost three months to April 15, 2013.
  • The priority cutoff date for the EB-3 categories for El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, Mexico and All Other Countries will advance by one month to July 1, 2016.
  • The priority cutoff date for Philippines EB-3 will advance four months to April 1, 2011.

Additional notes: All EB-1 categories will remain current. All EB-2 categories other than India and China will also remain current.

Application Final Action Dates for Employment-Based Preference Cases:

Preference China El Salvador Guatemala Honduras India Mexico

 

 Philippines

 

 All Other Countries
EB-1 Current Current Current Current Current Current
EB-2 July 15, 2012 Current Nov. 1, 2007 Current Current Current
EB-3 April 15, 2013 July 1, 2016 March 8, 2005 July 1, 2016 April 1, 2011 July 1, 2016

The State Department also released its Dates for Filing chart for November 2016. Applicants seeking to file for adjustment of status are reminded that the Dates for Filing chart does not take effect unless USCIS confirms it via a web posting in the next week or so. BAL will update clients once the State Department confirms whether the Dates for Filing chart can be used in November.

This alert has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice group. For additional information, please contact BerryApplemanLeiden@bal.com.

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