October 2018 Visa Bulletin – First Visa Bulletin for Fiscal Year, Many Categories Advance Significantly; EB-1 Cutoff Date Remains

The U.S. State Department has just released the October 2018 Visa Bulletin which is the first Visa Bulletin for the FY2019 fiscal year. The headline in the upcoming month’s Visa Bulletin headline is the fact that many categories are current again, with the notable exception of EB-1.   EB-2/EB-3 India and EB-2 China recover to their pre-retrogression levels while EB-3 China advances notably.

Summary of the October 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 October 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.

October 2018 Visa Bulletin + New Fiscal Year = Advanced Cutoff Dates for Many

As expected, the October 2018 Visa Bulletin advances many of the cutoff dates which were either retrogressed or had a cutoff date introduced over the previous few months.   As the new fiscal year begins on October 1, the government has the entire new fiscal year’s supply of immigrant visas and, as we expected, the cutoff dates have advance notably for many categories in the October 2018 Visa Bulletin.    Specifically, EB-2 and EB-3 India advance significantly and recover to their pre-retrogression state.   Similarly,  EB-2 and EB-3 ROW are now current again.

EB-1 Cutoff Dates Expected Until December 2018

As we anticipated for the first month of the new fiscal year, the cutoff dates for the EB-1 (all countries) advanced but did not return to their “current” state.     Our expectation is that EB-1 cutoff dates are expected to continue until (likely) December with very limited (if any) forward movement expected until December 2018.

Visa Bulletin Predictions – Employment-Based

We include the expectations for movement of visa numbers over the next few months.   Please note that these are short-term predictions and depending on the number of applications as a result of the next few months’ visa numbers, the rate of cutoff date movement may change.

EB-1 All.   Cutoff date expected to continue until (likely) December – very limited (if any) forward movement expected until December 2018.

EB-2 Rest of World (ROW).  Expected to remain current.

EB-2 India.  Expected to advance by up to two weeks per month.

EB-2 China. “Slow” forward movement expected depending on rate of filings from recent forward movement.

EB-3 Rest of World (ROW).  Expected to remain current.

EB-3 India.  “Slow” forward movement expected depending on rate of filings from recent forward movement.

EB-3 China.  Expected to advance by up to 5 weeks per month.

EB-3 Mexico.  Expected to match the EB-3 ROW level (stay current).

EB-3 Philippines.  “Minimal” forward movement expected.

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 October 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.