December 2017 Visa Bulletin: No Surprises, Nominal Progress
13 Nov 2017The December 2017 Visa Bulletin was released by the U.S. Department of State (DOS) this afternoon. As expected, the latest visa bulletin provides little-to-no relief to the heavily oversubscribed employment-based categories. There was no change at all in the dates for filing (DF) chart from last month, so only the final action (FA) chart is discussed.
Overview of Movement in Employment-Based Categories
The employment-based, first preference (EB1) category remains current for all countries of chargeability.
The cutoff date for India in the employment-based, second preference (EB2) category advances by a few weeks, to November 1, 2008. EB2 China moves forward by about two weeks, to a new cutoff date of July 1, 2013.
In the employment-based, third preference (EB3) category, the cutoff date for India again sees no movement, holding still at October 15, 2006. EB3 China advances by about three weeks, to March 8, 2014.
The cutoff dates for the EB3 other workers category match those of the standard EB3 category for all countries, except China. EB3 other workers for China moves up by two months, to July 1, 2006.
In the employment-based, fourth preference (EB4) category, the cutoff date remains current for all countries, except Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. EB4 Mexico’s cutoff date advances by one week, to April 22, 2016. The cutoff date for the other three countries moves ahead by one week, to November 8, 2015.
Finally, for the employment-based, fifth preference (EB5) category, the only country with a cutoff date is China. EB5 investors from China see the cutoff date move forward by two weeks, to July 15, 2014.
Conclusion
More information on projected movement in the visa bulletin will be posted as the information becomes available. Subscribe to the free MurthyBulletin for updates.
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