Among all the talks about past immigration, current debates in the US Congress as well as uncertainties surrounding the future of US citizens who were brought here illegally as children, there is one more element that is not forgotten by millions who are stuck in the backlog of paperwork. Immigrants who did come to the US legally, those who abided by the rules, and those who are now stuck in a dark hole of an indefinite wait period that may last up to 70 long years before they are made US citizens and finally feel like a part of the US fabric. Nevertheless, the US Department of State released the March 2018 Visa Bulletin that released dates of per-country priority date cutoffs that regulate immigrant visa availability and the flow of status adjustments and consular immigrant visa application filings and approvals.
According to this bulletin that is released periodically by the United States Citizenship & Immigration Services there have been minimal changes in the dates pertaining to the filing visa applications and the dates to undertake the final action. This covers two categories –
Potential immigrating visa applicants may file for adjustment of status, and
When visa applications are approved and permanent residency granted.
Employment-based visa applicants must have a priority date earlier than the dates mentioned in the bulletin under the visa category of EB-1, EB-2 or EB-3. As per the dates and visa categories mentioned in the bulletin, China, Philippines and Mexico advanced by two-and-a-half months to February 1, 2015 and October 1, 2016 in the EB-2 and EB-3 categories respectively. The table below shows the dates status for India –
- EB-1 current
- EB-2 February 8, 2009
- EB-3 January 1, 2008
To see if you qualify for these visa categories, talk to a reliable immigration lawyer on Lawbench and have your questions answered in the most efficient and expedited manner.
As for the second category of dates for final action, it stays current for most countries while the EB-2 for China progressed to December 8, 2013. All categories for Indian applicants looked good per the table below –
- EB-1 Current
- EB-2 December 15, 2008
- EB-3 January 1, 2007
For those applicants looking to adjust their status, follow guidelines on the I-485 process.