Predictions for Visa Bulletin Advancements through July 2019 and beyond

Every month after the release of the monthly visa bulletin, used for adjustment of status, DOS Visa Office Chief Mr. Charlie Oppenheim would provide his insights on the trends, movements, predictions, etc., regarding the usage of immigrant visa numbers to AILA. The following are his most important insights (edited version) effective through July 2019 following his presentation at a recent Federal Bar Association conference in Texas.

EB-1 China should advance to May 8, 2017, and EB-2 China to November 1, 2016 in the July bulletin.

Employment-based priority dates for India continue to move extremely slowly or not at all. EB-1 India will remain stagnant for the rest of the fiscal year. The EB-2 situation for India is expected to continue its very slight advancements of up to a week. The queue is very backed up, with an estimated 14,000 Indians pending adjustment of status from 2012, according to Charlie.

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EB-2 worldwide should stay current for the rest of the fiscal year. EB-3 worldwide is expected to remain current until the fiscal year ends, unless a sudden increase in demand warrants implementation of a final action date. EB-4 will likely remain current for most countries.

EB-3 Philippines will become current in July 2019.

The final action date for EB-5 China should go unchanged through August 2019, while Vietnam and India will hit their EB-5 number limits in July 2019. EB-5 Vietnam will have the same date as China's EB-5 after July until the end of the fiscal year. EB-5 India's Final Action Date will be in 2017 in July, then the same as China's EB-5 date in August and September 2019.

Family-based priority dates will continue to advance worldwide. FB-1 is expected to increase up to 5 weeks at a time and FB-2 an increase of up to two months. FB-4 in particular will advance up to 6 weeks at a time. 

F-2A is expected to remain current worldwide until September 2019.  (F-2A is current for all countries in July).

Priority dates for family-based categories in the Philippines will continue to advance especially quickly, particularly in the FB-3 and FB-4 Philippines categories.

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