Bad News for EB1 India and China

The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has released the May 2019 Visa Bulletin. While the cutoff date movement is fairly unremarkable, the latest visa bulletin also provides a disappointing prediction for India- and China-born beneficiaries in the employment-based, first preference (EB1) category. All cutoff dates listed refer to the dates in the final action (FA) chart unless otherwise specified.

Employment-Based, First Preference (EB1) Category

The cutoff dates for India and China in the EB1 category remain unchanged, at February 22, 2017. For all other countries of chargeability, the cutoff date advances to March 1, 2018.

The April 2019 Visa Bulletin also provides this updated prediction for EB1 China and India:

“Despite the final action date for these two countries having been held in recent months, there continues to be an extremely high rate of demand for [EB1] numbers, primarily for USCIS adjustment of status applicants. This situation may require the retrogression of this final action date in an effort to limit future number use.

“Such action would only be temporary, with the date for these two countries returning to the latest reached during the fiscal year 2019 for October, the first month of the fiscal year 2020.” [U.S. State Department, Visa Bulletin for May 2019, Vol. X, No. 29, Employment-Based Preferences, Subsection D.]

Employment-Based, Second Preference (EB2) Category

EB2 China advances to May 15, 2016. EB2 India moves ahead by a mere four days, to April 16, 2009. All other countries of chargeability remain current.

Employment-Based, Third Preference (EB3) Category

EB3 China moves up by three weeks, to August 22, 2015. Meanwhile, EB3 India advances by about one week, to July 1, 2009. EB3 Philippines moves forward to June 1, 2018. All other countries of chargeability remain current.

EB3 Other Workers

With the exception of China, the cutoff dates for EB3 other workers are the same for each country as their respective EB3 cutoff date. For China, the cutoff date for EB3 other workers is set at September 1, 2007.

Employment-Based, Fourth Preference (EB4) Category

In the EB4 category, Mexico advances to August 1, 2018. EB4 for El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras remains unchanged at March 8, 2016. The category remains current for all other countries.

Employment-Based, Fifth Preference (EB5) Category

EB5 China moves to September 22, 2014. The EB5 Vietnam cutoff date advances to September 16, 2016. The category remains current for all other countries.

Source: www.murthy.com