The Department of State (DOS) releases the Visa Bulletin every month which summarizes the availability of immigrant visa numbers. The Visa Bulletin is used to determine when a foreign national’s green card application is eligible to move forward.
DOS has recently released the August 2019 visa bulletin which contains notable retrogressions in employment-based (EB) categories.
Below is a summary of the August Visa Bulletin:
China: EB-1 retrogresses to July 1, 2016; EB-2 advances two months to January 1, 2017; and EB-3 moves forward six months to July 1, 2016;
India: EB-1 remains stalled at January 1, 2015; EB-2 crawls ahead eight days to May 2, 2009; and EB-3 falls back more than three years to January 1, 2006;
Philippines: EB-1 recedes two years to July 1, 2016; EB-2 retrogresses to January 1, 2017; and EB-3 reverts back to July 1, 2016; and
All Other Countries: EB-1 retrogresses two years to July 1, 2016; EB-2 falls back to January 1, 2017; and EB-3 retrogresses to July 1, 2016.
The visa bulletin indicates that every effort will be made to return the final action dates to the same as those in the July visa bulletin at the beginning of October 2019.
