Every month, the United States Department of State releases a visa bulletin that informs immigrant visa applicants if they are eligible to submit the needed documentation to the National Visa Center. July Visa Bulletin 2018, the tenth of the 2018 fiscal year, has been released. Major changes include the regression of the EB-3 China final action date. This has caused the EB-2 China category to advance ahead of the EB-3 China category. As such, there is no need for EB-2 China applicants to downgrade to the EB-3 category. In addition, there is a noteworthy advance in the EB-2 India and EB-3 India.

Below is an overview of the movements and the final action dates and dates for filing tables.

Overview

This overview contains significant date changes evident in the visa bulletin July 2018.

Employment-Based Preference Petitions

For the employment-based preference cases, there is no change in the final action dates for most categories apart from EB-2 India which advances by three and half months to March 15, 2009, EB-2 China which advances by four months to January 1, 2015, EB-3 India which moves forward by six months to November 1, 2008, and finally EB-3 China which retrogresses by two and half years to January 1, 2013.

Family-Based Preference Categories

For the family-based preference cases, there is modest movement in the dates for filing across the board. FB-1 Mexico advances by 1 ad half months to September 1, 1998. FB-1 Philippines moved to February 15, 2008. Also, FB-1 for China, India and all other chargeability areas advances by 2 months to March 8, 2012.

The tables below contain all changes to both the final action dates and the dates for filing for both employment-based preference cases and family-based preference cases.

As released by the USCIS, family-sponsored filings are to use the Dates for Filing, while employment-based preference filings are to use Final Action Dates.

 

EB Preference Cases – Dates for Filing and Final Action Dates, July 2018

 

EB-1 Category
Final Action Dates  – July 2018 Final Action Dates  – June 2018 Dates for Filing – July 2018 Dates for Filing – June 2018
India 1-Jan-12 1-Jan-12 Current Current
Rest of the world except those mentioned (including Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Mexico, and the Philippines.) Current Current Current Current
China (Mainland) 1-Jan-12 1-Jan-12 Current Current

EB-2 Category
Final Action Dates  – July 2018 Final Action Dates  – June 2018 Dates for Filing – July 2018 Dates for Filing – June 2018
India 15-Mar-09 26-Dec-08 22-May-09 1-Apr-09
Rest of the world except those mentioned (including Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Mexico, and the Philippines.) Current Current Current Current
China (Mainland) 1-Jan-15 1-Sep-14 1-Apr-15 1-Feb-15

EB-3 Category
Final Action Dates  – July 2018 Final Action Dates  – June 2018 Dates for Filing – July 2018 Dates for Filing – June 2018
India 1-Nov-08 1-May-08 1-May-09 1-Sep-08
Rest of the world except those mentioned (including Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Mexico.) Current Current Current Current
Philippines 1-Jan-17 1-Jan-17 1-Jul-17 1-Jul-17
China (Mainland) 1-Jan-13 1-Jun-15 1-Jan-16 1-Jan-16

EB-3 Category (Other Workers)
Final Action Dates  – July 2018 Final Action Dates  – June 2018 Dates for Filing – July 2018 Dates for Filing – June 2018
India 1-Nov-08 1-May-08 1-May-09 1-Sep-08
Rest of the world except those mentioned (including Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Mexico) Current Current Current Current
Philippines 1-Jan-17 1-Jan-17 1-Jul-17 1-Jul-17
China (Mainland) 1-May-07 1-May-07 1-Jun-08 1-Jan-16

EB-4 Category including Certain Religious Workers
Final Action Dates  – July 2018 Final Action Dates  – June 2018 Dates for Filing – July 2018 Dates for Filing – June 2018
India Current Current Current Current
Rest of the world except those mentioned (including China – mainland, and the Philippines.) Current Current Current Current
Mexico 8-Feb-16 22-Oct-16 Current Current
Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador 8-Feb-16 15-Dec-15 1-May-16 15-Apr-16
EB-5 Category
Final Action Dates  – July 2018 Final Action Dates  – June 2018 Dates for Filing – July 2018 Dates for Filing – June 2018
India Current Current Current Current
Rest of the world except those mentioned (including Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Mexico and the Philippines.) Current Current Current Current
Vietnam 1-Aug-14 1-Aug-14 Current Current
China (Mainland) 1-Aug-14 1-Aug-14 1-Oct-14 1-Sep-14

 

Family-Sponsored Preference Cases – Dates for Filing and Final Action Dates, July 2018

FB-1 Category
Final Action Dates  – July 2018 Final Action Dates  – June 2018 Dates for Filing – July 2018 Dates for Filing – June 2018
India 22-Apr-11 8-Apr-11 8-Mar-12 8-Jan-12
Rest of the world except those mentioned (including China-mainland). 22-Apr-11 8-Apr-11 8-Mar-12 8-Jan-12
Philippines 1-Jun-06 22-Mar-06 15-Feb-08 8-Oct-07
Mexico 1-Aug-97 1-Jun-97 1-Sep-98 15-Jul-98
FB-2A Category
Final Action Dates  – July 2018 Final Action Dates  – June 2018 Dates for Filing – July 2018 Dates for Filing – June 2018
India 22-Jun-16 8-Jun-16 1-Dec-17 22-Sep-17
Rest of the world except those mentioned (including China-mainland, and the Philippines). 22-Jun-16 8-Jun-16 1-Dec-17 22-Sep-17
Mexico 8-Jun-16 8-May-16 1-Dec-17 22-Sep-17
FB-2B Category
Final Action Dates  – July 2018 Final Action Dates  – June 2018 Dates for Filing – July 2018 Dates for Filing – June 2018
India 15-Aug-11 22-Jun-11 8-Jan-12 8-Sep-11
Rest of the world except those mentioned (including China-mainland). 15-Aug-11 22-Jun-11 8-Jan-12 8-Sep-11
Philippines 1-Feb-07 15-Jan-07 15-Dec-07 8-Sep-07
Mexico 8-Mar-97 15-Feb-97 8-Jun-97 22-May-97
FB-3 Category
Final Action Dates  – July 2018 Final Action Dates  – June 2018 Dates for Filing – July 2018 Dates for Filing – June 2018
India 1-May-06 15-Mar-06 8-Sep-06 8-Sep-06
Rest of the world except those mentioned (including China-mainland). 1-May-06 15-Mar-06 8-Sep-06 8-Sep-06
Philippines 15-Apr-95 8-Apr-95 1-Aug-95 22-Jul-95
Mexico 1-Dec-95 1-Oct-95 8-Oct-98 22-Sep-98
FB-4 Category
Final Action Dates  – July 2018 Final Action Dates  – June 2018 Dates for Filing – July 2018 Dates for Filing – June 2018
India 22-Mar-04 15-Mar-04 1-Jan-05 1-Dec-04
Rest of the world except those mentioned (including China-mainland). 15-Nov-04 22-Oct-04 1-May-05 1-Apr-05
Philippines 22-Mar-95 22-Feb-95 1-Dec-95 15-Oct-95
Mexico 15-Jan-98 8-Jan-98 1-Jun-98 8-May-98

Sources : 

  1. Travel.state.gov. (2018). Visa Bulletin For July 2018. [online] Available
  2. USCIS. (2018). Adjustment of Status Filing Charts from the Visa Bulletin. [online] Available

 

Published On: June 27th, 2018 / Categories: News & Updates /

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