The Department of State has just issued the December 2018 VisaBulletin. This is the third Visa Bulletin ofFiscal Year 2019. This blog post analyzes this month’s Visa Bulletin.

December 2018 Visa Bulletin

Table A: Final Action Dates — Applications withthese dates may be approved for their Green Card (Permanent Residency card) orImmigrant Visa appointment.

EB 
Class 
All Other  
CHINA       
INDIA     
PHIL’PNES    
EB-1
01JUL17
01SEP16
01SEP16
01JUL17
EB-2
C
01JUL15
01APR09 
C
EB-3
C
08JUN15
01MAR09 
15JUN17    

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     
PHIL’PNES    
EB-1
01JUN18
01OCT17
01OCT17
01JUN18
EB-2
C
08SEP15
22MAY09 
C
EB-3
C 
01DEC15
01JAN10 

01AUG17      

MU Law Analysis (all references are toTable A unless noted)

All Other, Mexico: As we expected, the EB-1 categorymoved several months. We expectcontinued steady movement in this category for All Other.

China: Likewise, the China EB-1 category progressed several months. This category may not move as fast as AllOther in the next few Visa Bulletins. China EB-2 moved two months, although EB-3 only advanced one week. We expect EB-3 to slightly outpace EB-2 inthe next few Visa Bulletins.
India: The Indian EB-3date moved two months, which was more than expected. There is a chance that EB-3 continues to moveat this pace for the next few Visa Bulletins. We expect the slow/no progress tobe standard for EB-2 in the first part of FY 2019.
Philippines: The EB-3 date again also only moved up by week, which isslower than we would have liked to have seen. While over the course of FY2019, we should eventually see the EB-3priority date extend into CY2018, we do not expect too much movement inthe next few Visa Bulletins.