March 2019 Visa Bulletin – Slow Forward Movement Across Almost All Employment-based Categories

The U.S. State Department has just released the March 2019 Visa Bulletin which is the sixth Visa Bulletin for the FY2019 fiscal year. The headline in the upcoming month’s Visa Bulletin is the extremely slow forward movement in almost all employment-based categories.   EB-3 India Filing dates do not advance at all but EB-3 India remains more advanced than EB-2 India under the Filing Dates and creating favorable downgrade options for some assuming USCIS will accept the Filing Dates chart for I-485 filings during March 2019.

Summary of the March 2019 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 March 2019 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.

The EB-3 India Filing Dates Continue to be More Advanced than EB-2 India – Opportunity for Downgrading (Even Though EB-3 India Filing Dates Forward Movement Stops)

Unfortunately, the EB-3 India Filing Dates forward movement has stopped and the date remains unchanged in the March 2019 Visa Bulletin compared to the prior month.   However, EB-3 India remains more advanced and favorable than EB-2 India.    For example, under the “Final Action”, EB-2 India is at April 9, 2009 while the cutoff date for EB-3 India is six weeks later, at May 22, 2009.    Notably,  and especially for purposes of I-485 filings and assuming USCIS will accept the “Filing Dates” for I-485 filings, under the “Dates for Filing” category, EB-2 India is at May 22, 2009 (unchanged from last month) while EB-3 India is at April 1, 2010 (also unchanged from last month) which is a more favorable date for EB-3 India than it is for EB-2 India.

We have put together a guide on understanding the EB-2 to EB-3 downgrading process, including who may benefit from it and how to go about the process.    We invite you to review our guide and also to contact us if we can be of any help.

EB-1 India and China Not Expected to be Current Soon

EB-1 India and China are, unfortunately, not expected to advance by much over the next several months and even if some forward movement may be observed in early 2019, according to the State Department, it is possible that EB-1 India and China may not be “Current” at all for the fiscal year (until September 2019).

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 March 2019 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.