December Visa Bulletin
According to the State Department’s December Visa Bulletin, final action cutoff dates for issuance of an immigrant visa will be:
- EB-1: All countries except for China and India will remain current in November. China and India will advance by four months to April 1, 2019.
- EB-2: China and India will each advance by over one week, to May 1, 2016 and October 1, 2009, respectively. All other countries will remain current.
- EB-3 Professionals and Skilled Workers: Cutoff dates for China will advance one month to November 1, 2017, and for India will advance two weeks to March 15, 2010. All other countries will remain current in November.
USCIS has chosen the Dates for Filing chart for employment-based applications for the third month in a row. While the December Dates for Filing chart shows moderate advancement from last month in most employment-based categories, there is notably a one-year retrogression in the EB-3 India category, from January 1, 2015 to January 1, 2014.
Impact of Presidential Proclamation
As a reminder, President Trump’s April 22 proclamation temporarily suspending the entry of certain immigrants remains in place through December 31, 2020. The proclamation continues to limit the issuance of immigrant visas by U.S. consulates abroad.