February Visa Bulletin and Update from Charlie Oppenheim
The February 2019 visa bulletin was recently released. Below is a summary of current dates as well as projections from Charlie Oppenheim on how various categories will move in the coming months. As a note, USCIS has stated that, for filing the I-485, you can use the Dates for Filing for Family based case, but must use the Final Action Dates for Employment based cases.
Family Based cases:
F1: Final Action dates moved forward to about a month for most countries – September 22, 2011 for All Other Areas, China and India and August 1, 1997 for Mexico and March 15, 2007 for the Philippines. Dates for Filing move similarly to April 8, 2012 for All Areas, China and India, and to September 22, 1999 for Mexico and March 15, 2008 for the Philippines. Update from Charlie: According to Charlie this category will move up to 5 weeks through May.
F2A: Final Action dates moved forward to about a month for most countries – December 1, 2016 for All Areas except Mexico, which moved to November 15, 2016. Dates for Filing stayed at December 1, 2017 for All Areas. Update from Charlie: According to Charlie this category will move up to 1 month through May.
F2B: Final Action dates for most areas only moved forward about two weeks – All Other Areas, China and India all moved to May 1, 2012. Mexico moved forward a little over 1 month to July 22, 1997 and the Philippines only moved forward a little more than 1 week to July 1, 2007. Dates For Filing all moved forward about 1 month – to June 22, 2014 for All Other Areas, China and India, to October 8, 1997 for Mexico and to January 15, 2008 for the Philippines. Update from Charlie: According to Charlie, this category will move forward about 2 months through May.
F3: Final Action dates moved forward only about 1 week for All Other Areas, India and China to August 22, 2006. Mexico stayed at December 22, 1995 and the Philippines moved forward about 1 month to August 22, 1995. Dates for Filing moved forward almost 1 month for All Other Areas, China and India to February 1m 2007. For Mexico, it moved forward about 1 month to June 8, 2000, and the Philippines moved forward 2 months to August 1, 1997. Update from Charlie: According to Charlie, this category will only move forward about 2 weeks through May of this year.
F4: Final Action Dates moved forward 1 month to June 22, 2005 for All Other Areas and China. It moved forward about 1 week to June 22, 2004 for India. Mexico had no movement and stayed at February 8, 1998. The Philippines moved forward about 1 month to October 1, 1995. Dates for Filing mostly moved forward about 1 month (to June 15, 2006 for All Other Areas and China, to February 1, 2005 for India and to November 1, 1998 for Mexico). The Philippines moved forward almost 6 months to December 8, 1997. Update from Charlie: According to Charlie, this category will move forward about 6 weeks through May of this year.
Employment Based Categories
(Please note, because USCIS has stated that employment based categories will use Final Action Dates we will not discuss the Dates for Filing)
EB1: Moved forward about 2 months – to December 1, 2017 for most countries except India and China which moved to February 8, 2017. Update from Charlie: Most countries will move forward about 2 months through May of this year. China and India will only move about 1 month forward during that period.
EB2: Stayed Current for most countries except China (moved 2 months to October 1, 2015) and India (moved 1 week to April 6, 2009). Update from Charlie: Most Countries will stay current for the foreseeable future. China will move forward about 3 months through May of this year and India will move forward only about 2 weeks during that period.
EB3: Stayed Current for most countries except China (moved about 1 month to July 1, 2015) and India (moved forward almost 2 months to April 22, 2009 – passing the EB-2 date for India). Update from Charlie: Most countries will stay current. China will move forward only about 3 weeks through May of this year and India will move forward about 3 months during that period. NOTE: India EB3 will most likely be ahead of EB-2 India for several months, depending on demand.
Please contact me with any questions.
Please remember, as always, this blog does not offer legal advice. If you need legal advice, consult with a lawyer not of a blog. Thank you.