TheDepartment of State has just issued the October2019 Visa Bulletin. This is the first Visa Bulletin of FiscalYear 2020. This blog post analyzes this month’s Visa Bulletin.
October2019 Visa Bulletin
Table A:Final Action Dates — Applications with these dates may be approved for theirGreen Card (Permanent Residency card) or Immigrant Visa appointment.
|
Employment-
based |
All Other
|
CHINA
|
INDIA
|
PHILIPPINES
|
|
1st
|
22APR18
|
01NOV16
|
01JAN15
|
22APR18
|
|
2nd
|
C
|
01JAN15
|
12MAY09
|
C
|
|
3rd
|
C
|
01NOV15
|
01JAN09
|
15OCT17
|
Table B:Dates for Filing — The DOS may work on applications with these dates. But theVisa cannot be approved until the date is current per Table A.
|
Employment-
based |
All Other
|
CHINA
|
INDIA
|
PHILIPPINES
|
|
1st
|
01JUL19
|
01SEP17
|
15MAR17
|
01JUL19
|
|
2nd
|
C
|
01AUG16
|
01JUL09
|
C
|
|
3rd
|
C
|
01MAR17
|
01FEB10
|
C
|
MU LawAnalysis (all references are to Table A unless noted)
AllOther: Although AllOther EB-1 has a slight retrogression, the EB-2 and EB-3 categories remainedcurrent and are expected to remain current for the foreseeable future.
China: The EB-2 and EB-3 inverted again, asEB-3 has a favorable priority date than EB-2. Over the course of FY2020 we expect EB-3 to catch up to EB-2 and the twocategories to stay roughly equal.
India: As with China, the EB-2 and EB-3dates have inverted. We expect verylittle progress in either category, although EB-2 may move slightly quickerthan EB-3 in future months.
Philippines: We find the implementation of the15OCT17 priority date puzzling. This isalmost surely a too conservative projection by DOS. MU expects that this date will rapidly movein the coming months, and could return to current in early 2020.