September 2019 Visa Bulletin – Retrogression and Unavailability for Many EB Categories; Last Bulletin for Fiscal Year

The U.S. State Department has just released the September 2019 Visa Bulletin which is the last Visa Bulletin for the FY2019 fiscal year. The headline in the upcoming month’s Visa Bulletin is the significant additional retrogression in many employment-based categories (except for Rest of World) and the unavailability for EB-1 India.  FB-2A continues to be current in the last Visa Bulletin for the fiscal year.

Summary of the September 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 September 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.

Cutoff Date Introduction and Retrogression for Many Employment-Based Applications

We had warned our readers as early as our July 2019 Visa Bulletin alert that the Department of State is introducing cutoff dates for many employment-based cases as we approach the end of the fiscal year and this is indeed the case in the both August 2019 and the new September 2019 Visa Bulletins.

In addition to the cutoff dates introduced by the (previous) August 2019 Visa Bulletin, the Department of State is making some notable adjustments for the last Visa Bulletin for the fiscal year.

Specifically, due to some unused numbers EB-1 ROW can advance by 15 months while EB-2 ROW advances by 12 months (after notable retrogressions last month).  At the same time, EB-1 India is now unavailable (no green cards can be approved until the end of the fiscal year on September 30th). This is the note regarding India:

India – Employment First (E1) and Third Preferences (E3): Despite the earlier retrogression of the India E1 and E3 final action dates, USCIS demand for adjustment of status applicants with priority dates earlier than those dates remained excessive. Therefore, it was necessary to make the India E1 final action date “Unavailable” earlier in July, and it will remain so for the remainder of FY-2019. The India Employment Third preference date has been retrogressed and that date will be imposed immediately (emphasis added).

EB-1 and EB-3 China retrogress by 30 months while EB-2 remains unchanged. This is the Department of State note regarding China:

China – Employment First (E1) and Third Preferences (E3): Despite the earlier retrogression of the China E1 final action date, USCIS demand for adjustment of status applicants with priority dates earlier than that date remains excessive. Therefore, it has been necessary to retrogress the China E1 final action date once again. A dramatic increase in USCIS demand for China E3 numbers has also required the retrogression of that date in an effort to limit future number use under that annual limit. Both of these retrogressed September dates will be imposed immediately.

The Department of State has warned that it is possible that corrections to other categories are possible at any time until the end of the fiscal year on September 30th.

Prospective I-485 Applicants.  As a result of this retrogression, many applicants who are “current” in July will no longer be current in September 2019.   This means that new I-485 applicants who are planning to file I-485 must do so in the month of July before the retrogression may affect them.     Please do not hesitate to contact us if our office can help you take advantage of this (very time-sensitive) opportunity to file I-485 applications.

Applicants with Pending I-485.   Applicants who have a pending I-485 and whose priority date will no longer be current in September will likely need to wait until at least October 2019 for the dates to recover to their July 2019 Visa Bulletin level.

Possibility of Running Out of Visa Numbers During September

Because September is the last month of the fiscal year, the Department of State is aiming to use all of the available visa numbers available for the fiscal year.  Because any unused visa numbers are not recaptured during subsequent years, the Department of State is often a little bit more aggressive in issuing visa numbers in September so that there are no unused visas at the end.

What this means, however, is that it is possible that the Department of State may run out of visa numbers for certain categories at some point in September and green card applications for applicants who may otherwise be current and ready for approval may not be approved until after October 1st.

FB-2A Remains Current for All Countries – Opportunity to File I-485 Adjustment of Status (Assuming USCIS Will Allow It)

Another notable development is that the Family-based Second Preference (FB-2A) category remains “Current” for September (after it became “Current” in July) and, according to the Department of State, it is expected to remain “Current” through September.   This action has been taken in an effort to generate an increased level of “demand” or number of filings.     It should be noted that the FB-2A will not remain Current indefinitely, but it is not possible to say at present how soon a cutoff will be introduced.

FB-2A category is for “Spouses and Children (generally under 21 years of age) of Permanent Residents”

This means that FB-2A applicants, especially those who are in the U.S. on valid status, should consider filing for I-485 Adjustment of Status as soon as possible in September in the event there is a cutoff date introduced in October.   Note that because the cutoff date is “Current”, it is possible to file a brand new FB-2A where the I-130 immigrant petition and the I-485 adjustment of status are filed concurrently.    So this is an opportunity to file I-485 not only for existing but also for new FB-2A cases.

FB-2A applicants who are pursuing the NVC/Consular may still consider completing their applications so that the U.S. Consular sections can complete the interview and the immigrant visa approval process as soon as possible.

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

October 2019 Visa Bulletin Expected to “Reset” Cutoff Dates

We expect that the October 2019 Visa Bulletin (to be released in early September) to “reset” the cutoff dates for many categories which were either retrogressed or had a cutoff date introduced over the last two months.   As the new fiscal year begins on October 1, the government has the entire new fiscal year’s supply of immigrant visas and we expect that the cutoff dates will advance notably for many categories over the coming few months.

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 September 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.