TheDepartment of State has just issued the January 2019 VisaBulletin. This is the fourth Visa Bulletin of Fiscal Year 2019. Thisblog post analyzes this month’s Visa Bulletin.


January2019 Visa Bulletin

Table A: Final Action Dates –Applications with these dates may be approved for their Green Card (PermanentResidency card) or Immigrant Visa appointment.
EB 
Class 
All Other  
CHINA       
INDIA     
PHILIPPINES    
EB-1
01OCT17
15DEC16
01DEC16
01OCT17
EB-2
C
01AUG15
01APR09 
C
EB-3
C
08JUN15
01MAR09 
22JUN17    

Table B: Dates for Filing — The DOS may work on applications with thesedates. But the Visa cannot be approved until the date is current perTable A.
EB 
Class 
All Other  
CHINA       
INDIA     
PHILIPPINES    
EB-1
01JUN18
01OCT17
01OCT17
01JUN18
EB-2
C
08SEP15
22MAY09 
C
EB-3
C 
01JAN16
01JAN10 

01AUG17      
MU LawAnalysis (all references are to Table A unless noted)

All Other,Mexico: As we expected, the EB-1 category again moved several months.  We expect continued steady movement in thiscategory for All Other.  We do not seeany retrogression in the future for EB2 or EB3, other than the usualretrogression at the end of the Fiscal Year.
China: Likewise,the China EB-1 category progressed several months. This category may not moveas fast as All Other in the next few Visa Bulletins. China EB-2 moved twomonths,
EB-3 didnot advance, reflecting high demand. Still, we expect EB-3 to slightly outpace EB-2 in the next few VisaBulletins.
India: IndiaEB-2 and EB-3 did not move. We expect the slow/no progress to be standard forEB-2 in the first part of FY 2019.  Weare slightly more optimistic about India EB-3.
Philippines: The EB-3date again also only moved up by week, which is slower than we would have likedto have seen.  While over the course ofFY2019, we should eventually see the EB-3 priority date extend into FY2018, wedo not expect too much movement in the next few Visa Bulletins.