Released by the U.S. Department of State (DOS) in April, the May 2018 visa bulletin is effective in the month of May 2018. At first glance, it is noticeable that a final action date has been imposed on EB-5 Vietnam; this was not the case the previous month where the cutoff was current. This change is because the Vietnam Employment Fifth preference (EB-5) category reached its annual limit in April. In other departments, EB-1 India and China remained the same. EB-2 China advanced by a month and EB-3 India saw a huge move by 3 months.
According to USCIS, for the month of May 2018, while employment-based preference filings have to use the Final Action Dates chart, family-sponsored filings have to use the Dates for Filing table when filing adjustment of status applications.
Find cutoff dates for both dates of filing, final action dates in both the employment-based preferences and family-sponsored preferences in the charts below.
Final Action Dates for Employment-Based Preference Cases, May 2018Â
EB-1:Â EB-1 India and China saw no movement, remaining at Jan 1, 2012.EB-1 Rest of the world including Mexico and the Philippines dates remained current.
EB-2: EB-2 India’s cutoff is 22, 2008. EB-2 cutoff for China is Sep 1, 2014, a forward move of a month.EB-2 Rest of the world including Mexico and the Philippines is still current.
EB-3: EB-3 India moved by 3 months to May 1, 2008. EB-3 china saw no change at Jun 1, 2015. EB-3 Mexico saw no change and remained current. EB-3 Philippines saw no change and remained at Jan 1, 2017.EB-3 All chargeability areas except those stated already remained current.
Other Workers: China’s cutoff date is May 1, 2007. India’s is May 1, 2008. The Philippines date is Jan 1, 2017. For the rest of the world, the cutoff date is current for the month of May.
EB-4:Â EB-4 for Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras cutoff date is Dec 15, 2015. EB-4 Mexico cutoff date for this month is October 22, 2016. For the rest of the world, EB-4 is current.
EB-5: EB-5 China and Vietnam have a cutoff date of July 22, 2014 for both subcategories. All other countries’ cutoff dates for this category including subcategories was current.
Check the charts below to find your cutoff dates.
Final Action Dates, May 2018
EB Preference Cases – Final Action Dates, May 2018
| EB-1 (First Preference) | Dates | EB-2 (Second Preference)Â | Dates | |
| China | 1-Jan-12 | China | 1-Sep-14 | |
| India | 1-Jan-12 | India | 22-Dec-08 | |
| Rest of the world including Mexico and the Philippines | Current | Rest of the world including Mexico and the Philippines | Current | |
| EB-3 (Third Preference) | Dates | EB-3 (Other Workers) | Dates | |
| China | 1-Jun-15 | China | 1-May-07 | |
| India | 1-May-08 | India | 1-May-08 | |
| Mexico | Current | Philippines | 42736 | |
| Philippines | 1-Jan-17 | Rest of the world except those listed | Current | |
| Rest of the world except those listed | Current | |||
| EB- 5 | Dates | |||
| EB-4 (Fourth Preference) | Dates | China | 22-Jul-14 | |
| Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras | 15-Dec-15 | Vietnam | 22-Jul-14 | |
| Mexico | 22-Oct-16 | Rest of the world except those listed | Current | |
| Rest of the world except those listed | Current |
Family-Sponsored Preference Cases – Final Action Dates, May 2018
| F1 | Dates | F2A | Dates | |
| Philippines | 22-Jan-06 | Mexico | 22-Apr-16 | |
| Mexico | 15-Nov-96 | Rest of the world including, China, India, and the Philippines | 1-Jun-16 | |
| Rest of the world including China, and India | 8-Apr-11 | |||
| F2B | Dates | F3 (Third Preference) | Dates | |
| Mexico | 1-Dec-96 | Philippines | 1-Apr-95 | |
| Philippines | 15-Dec-06 | Mexico | 1-Sep-95 | |
| Rest of the world including China, and India | 15-May-11 | Rest of the world including China, and India | 1-Feb-06 | |
| F4 (Fourth Preference) | Dates | |||
| India | 1-Mar-04 | |||
| Mexico | 8-Jan-98 | |||
| Philippines | 1-Feb-95 | |||
| Rest of the world except those listed. | 1-Oct-04 |
Dates of Filing, May 2018
EB Preference Cases – Dates of Filing, May 2018
| EB-1 (First Preference) | EB-3 (Third Preference) | Dates | ||
| Dates of filing remained Current for the entire EB-1 category. | China | 1-Jan-16 | ||
| India | 1-Sep-08 | |||
| EB-2 (Second Preference) | Dates | Mexico | Current | |
| China | 1-Feb-15 | Philippines | 1-Jul-17 | |
| India | 1-Apr-09 | Rest of the world except areas mentioned | Current | |
| Rest of the world including Mexico and the Philippines | Current | |||
| EB-3 (Other Workers) | Dates | EB-4 (Fourth Preference) | Dates | |
| China | 1-Jun-08 | El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras | 15-Apr-16 | |
| India | 1-Sep-08 | Mexico | Current | |
| Philippines | 42917 | Rest of the world except areas mentioned | Current | |
| Rest of the world except areas mentioned | Current | |||
| EB- 5 | Dates | |||
| China | 1-Sep-14 | |||
| Rest of the world except areas mentioned | Current | |||
Family-Sponsored Preference Cases – Dates of Filing, May 2018
| F1 | Dates | F2A | Dates | |
| Philippines | 8-Oct-07 | Mexico | 22-Sep-17 | |
| Mexico | 15-Jul-98 | Rest of the world including, China, India, and Philippines | 22-Sep-17 | |
| Rest of the world including China, and India | 8-Jan-12 | |||
| F2B | Dates | F3 (Third Preference) | Dates | |
| Mexico | 22-May-97 | Philippines | 22-Jul-95 | |
| Philippines | 8-Sep-07 | Mexico | 22-Sep-98 | |
| Rest of the world including India and China | 8-Sep-11 | Rest of the world including India and China | 8-Sep-06 | |
| F4 (Fourth Preference) | Dates | |||
| India | 1-Dec-04 | |||
| Mexico | 8-May-98 | |||
| Philippines | 15-Oct-95 | |||
| Rest of the world including China | 1-Apr-05 |
Sources :Â
- Travel.state.gov. (2018). Visa Bulletin For May 2018. [online] Available at: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin/2018/visa-bulletin-for-may-2018.html [Accessed 16 March 2018].
- USCIS. (2018). Adjustment of Status Filing Charts from the Visa Bulletin. [online] Available at: https://www.uscis.gov/visabulletininfo [Accessed 18 March 2018].
