September 2018 Visa Bulletin Update – EB-1 Retrogression & Employment Based Adjustments Can Only Use Final Action Dates
The Visa Bulletin began showing a retrogression for the Employment Based First Preference Category (EB-1) back in the August 2018 Visa Bulletin with a final action date of 2012 for China and India, and 2016 for all other countries,. This was expected, as retrogression is common closer to the end of the fiscal year. However, Department of State’s Charlie Oppenheim confirmed that the Department of State does not expect EB-1 to become current at the start of the new fiscal year on October 1st. This is a result of the high volume of EB-1 petitions and corresponding Adjustment of Status applications filed in the last year, resulting in a severe oversubscription of the classification. Oppenheim expects that forward movement will begin closer to December 2018 or in Q2 2019.
The USCIS announced in tandem with the Department of State’s September 2018 Visa Bulletin that Adjustment of Status applicants for employment-based applicants are to use the Final Action Datetable to determine when to file, and not the Dates For Filing table. For September, final actions date for India and China remain retrogressed to 2012, and for all other countries to 2016 – this means Adjustment of Status applications will only be accepted from applicants with a priority date on or prior the 2016 date indicated in the bulletin. We refer you to the bulletin for specific dates.
Please note that consular processing immigrant visa applications are still determined by the Dates For Filing Of Employment-Based Visa Applications table. Many classifications for various countries of chargeability remain current in this table.
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References:
August 2018 Visa Bulletin
September 2018 Visa Bulletin
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin/2018/visa-bulletin-for-september-2018.html