July 2018 Visa Bulletin: Modest Advancement for EB2 and EB3 India

The July 2018 Visa Bulletin has been released by the U.S. Department of State (DOS). As predicted, the cutoff dates for India in both the employment-based, second preference (EB2) and the employment-based, third preference (EB3) categories advance by several months. EB2 China also advances, while EB3 China is hit by retrogression. All dates discussed below are from the final action (FA) charts.

EB2 Category

The cutoff date for EB2 India moves up by almost three months, to March 15, 2009. EB2 China’s cutoff date advances to January 1, 2015.

EB3 Category

EB3 India moves up by six months, to a new cutoff date of November 1, 2008. Meanwhile, EB3 China’s cutoff date is rolled back by more than two years, to January 1, 2013. This was caused by a large number of EB2-to-EB3 “downgrade” cases.

Possible Retrogression in Coming Months

This month’s visa bulletin cautions that there has been a recent increase in the number of I-485 adjustment of status applications filed in the employment-based categories. This could cause retrogression in the near future. If that occurs, the cutoff dates are expected to recover by the October 2018 Visa Bulletin, which will be the first visa bulletin for the new fiscal year.

Conclusion

While these advances in cutoff dates are undoubtedly welcome news for some, it still leaves countless foreign nationals – mainly from India – waiting in limbo. As soon as any additional updates or predictions are provided, the information will be posted on MurthyDotCom. Subscribe to the free MurthyBulletin to have future updates delivered to your inbox.

 

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Disclaimer: The information provided here is of a general nature and may not apply to any specific or particular circumstance. It is not to be construed as legal advice nor presumed indefinitely up to date.