July 2018 Visa Bulletin – EB-3 China Retrogression; EB2/3 India Advance Notably

The U.S. State Department has just released the July 2018 Visa Bulletin which is the tenth Visa Bulletin for the FY2018 fiscal year. The headline in the upcoming month’s Visa Bulletin is the significant retrogression in EB-3 China which means that EB-2 China gets back to be more advanced than EB-3 China and, at least temporarily, puts an end to the options for EB-3 China downgrading.   Also, there is notable forward movement in EB-2 and EB-3 India.

Summary of the July 2018 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 July 2018 Visa Bulletin – Family-Based (FB)

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

EB-3 China Retrogression and the “Flip” Between EB-2 and EB-3 China;  Downgrading Period for EB China is Over (For Now)

The only retrogression in this month’s Visa Bulletin is in EB-3 China – from June 1, 2015 back to January 1, 2013.    First of all, we urge EB-3 China nationals who have a current priority date but have not yet filed I-485 or otherwise taken advantage of the current priority date, to do so before the end of the month of June 2018.    According to the State Department, the reason for the EB-3 China retrogression is the following:

There has been an extremely large increase in Employment Third preference applicant demand during the past two months. This is due to the “downgrading” of status by applicants who had originally filed in the Employment Second preference. As a result, it has been necessary to retrogress the July Final Action Date to January 1, 2013 in an effort to hold number use within the FY-2018 per-country limit.

The EB-3 China retrogression also essentially puts an end (at least for the next few months) to the opportunity to downgrade an EB-2 China application to EB-3 in order to be able to file I-485 based on a current priority date.    With the “flip” of the cutoff dates in EB China, EB-2 is now more advanced than EB-3 China.

Increase in Employment Filings Means Anticipated Cutoff and/or Retrogression

The State Department also cautions that over the recent weeks they have seen reports of an increase in the number of I-485 filings which, if continues, would mean that there is an expected retrogression or cutoff dates introduced among some employment categories.    We caution that as we get towards the end of the fiscal year, it is possible for EB-2 and EB-3 ROW to have cutoff dates so ROW applicants who are eligible to file EB-2 or EB-3 should consider preparing such applications and, at least, monitor the remaining Visa Bulletin editions for the fiscal year.

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 July 2018 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.