August 2017 Visa Bulletin – EB-2 ROW Cutoff Date Introduced

The U.S. State Department has just released the August 2017 Visa Bulletin which is the eleventh Visa Bulletin for the FY2017 fiscal year.  The headline in the upcoming month’s Visa Bulletin is the introduction of a cutoff date for the EB-2 ROW, Mexico and Philippines categories, together with the notable forward movement in EB-3 India.  EB-2 India and EB-3 China do not move this month.

Summary of the August 2017 Visa Bulletin – Employment-Based (EB)

Please note that USCIS will determine, about a week after this Visa Bulletin is published, whether or not to accept I-485 filings on the basis of these filing dates. Please see the section below.

Summary of the August 2017 Visa Bulletin – Family-Based (FB)

Please note that USCIS will determine, about a week after this Visa Bulletin is published, whether or not to accept I-485 filings on the basis of these filing dates. Please see the section below.

Introduction of EB-2 ROW/Mexico/Philippines Cutoff Date

As we anticipated and alerted over the last two months, the Department of State has introduced a cutoff date for the EB-2 ROW, Mexico and Philippines categories (which have almost always been current) for the month of August and likely September 2017.

The introduction of this cutoff date means that EB-2 ROW, Mexico or Philippines applicants will not be able to complete their green card process either at the US Consulate or by filing or getting an approval of I-485 adjustment of status application until their priority date becomes current again.   It is expected that these categories will be current again after October 1, 2017.   EB-2 ROW applicants who have not filed their I-485 and are eligible to do so should consider filing such I-485 applications before the end of July or wait until October 1 when it is anticipated that the dates will be current again.

Current Date?

Our office stands ready to assist in the applicable process to take advantage of the significant restructuring in the way the cutoff dates are determined and published.  There are many applicants across many of the employment and family categories who can now process their (and their family members’) I-485 Adjustment of Status applications from within the U.S. or process their immigrant visa at a U.S. Consulate abroad.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if our office can help you take advantage of this (very time-sensitive for some) opportunity to file I-485 applications. We are also happy to provide a free quote for preparing and filing your I-485 application.

Further Updates and News

We invite you to subscribe to our free weekly immigration newsletter to receive timely updates on this and related topics. We also invite you to contact us if our office can be of any assistance in your immigration matters or you have any questions or comments about the August 2017 Visa Bulletin. Finally, if you already haven’t, please consider our Visa Bulletin Predictions tool which provides personalized predictions and charts helping you understand when a particular priority date may become current and what are the movement patterns.