February 2019 Visa Bulletin Analysis

/

According to the State Department’s February Visa Bulletin, cutoff dates for issuance of an immigrant visa will be as follows:

  • EB-1: All countries except China and India will advance by two months, to December 1, 2017. China and India will advance by seven weeks, to February 8, 2017.  

  • EB-2: All countries will remain current, except for China and India. China will advance by two months, to October 1, 2015, while India will advance less than a week to April 6, 2009. 

  • EB-3 (Professional and Skilled Workers): Most countries will remain current, while China will advance three weeks to July 1, 2015, and India will advance almost two months to April 22, 2009. The Philippines will advance by five weeks to August 1, 2017.

  • EB-5: The Non-Regional Center category will remain the same for China at September 1, 2014. Vietnam will advance two weeks to June 15, 2016. As discussed below, the Regional Center category is currently unavailable due to its program expiration. 


In the coming days, USCIS is expected to announce on its own Visa Bulletin web page the cutoff dates for acceptance of adjustment of status applications next month. USCIS has indicated that it anticipates using the State Department’s Final Action dates as soon as February 2019.  For the last several months, USCIS has used the State Department’s Dates for Filing, a notable change from its usual practices.