In the February 2020 Visa Bulletin issued by the US Department of State, EB-2 worldwide employment-based classifications, excluding China and India, remain available and current. This month’s Dates for Filing Chart did not advance for any country or EB category.
The US Department of State has released its February 2020 Visa Bulletin outlining per-country priority date cutoffs that regulate immigrant visa availability and the flow of adjustment of status application and consular immigrant visa application filings and approvals.
The bulletin includes both a Dates for Filing Visa Applications chart and an Application Final Action Dates chart. The former indicates when intending immigrants may file their applications for adjustments of status or immigrant visas, and the latter indicates when adjustment of status applications or immigrant visa applications may be approved and permanent residence granted.
Each month, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) chooses which chart it will follow. At the time of this publication, USCIS had not yet indicated which chart it would follow for February 2020.
To be eligible to receive approval of a pending employment-based (EB) adjustment application in February 2020, a foreign national must have a priority date that is earlier than the date listed below for his or her preference category and country.
The “C” listing indicates that the category is current, and that applications may be filed regardless of the applicant’s priority date. The listing of a date for any category indicates that only applicants with a priority date that is earlier than the listed date may file their applications.
|
EB |
All Charge- |
China |
El Salvador, |
India |
Mexico |
Philippines |
Vietnam |
|
1st |
01DEC18 (was 01OCT18) | 22MAY17 (no change) |
01DEC18 (was 01OCT18) | 01JAN15 (no change) | 01DEC18 (was 01OCT18) | 01DEC18 (was 01OCT18) | 01DEC18 (was 01OCT18) |
|
2nd |
C (no change) | 01JUL15 (no change) |
C (no change) |
19MAY09 (was 18MAY09) | C (no change) | C (no change) |
C (no change) |
|
3rd |
C (no change) | 01JAN16 (was 01DEC15) | C (no change) | 08JAN09 (was 01JAN09) | C (no change) | 01JUN18 (was 15MAR18) | C (no change) |
|
Other Workers |
C (no change) | 01MAY08 (was 01APR08) | C (no change) | 08JAN09 (was 01JAN09) |
C (no change) | 01JUN18 (was 15MAR18) | C (no change) |
On the Final Action Dates chart, the India EB-1 cutoff date remains at January 1, 2015, and the EB-1 cutoff date for China holds steady at May 22, 2017. Mexico, Philippines, Vietnam, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed all saw modest movement in the EB-1 category, with each country advancing by two months to December 1, 2018.
EB-2 China remains at July 1, 2015. EB-2 India advanced by just one day to May 19, 2009. EB-2 dates for all other countries remain current.
The EB-3 cutoff date for Philippines advanced by more than three months, to June 1, 2018. EB-3 China advanced one month to January 1, 2016. EB-3 dates for all other countries remain current under the Final Action Dates chart.
To be eligible to file an EB adjustment of status application in February 2020, a foreign national must have a priority date that is earlier than the date listed below for his or her preference category and country.
The “C” listing indicates that the category is current, and that applications may be filed regardless of the applicant’s priority date. The listing of a date for any category indicates that only applicants with a priority date which is earlier than the listed date may file their application.
Note that since Vietnam is not listed on the Department of State’s Dates for Filing chart, adjustment applicants from Vietnam should use the worldwide dates found in the “All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed” column.
|
EB |
All Charge- |
China |
El Salvador, |
India |
Mexico |
Philippines |
Vietnam |
|
1st |
C (was 01JUL19) | 01OCT17 (no change) | C (no change) | 15MAR17 (no change) | C (no change) | C (no change) | C (no change) |
|
2nd |
C (no change) | 01AUG16 (no change) | C (no change) | 01JUL09 (no change) | C (no change) | C (no change) | C (no change) |
|
3rd |
01JAN19 (no change) | 01MAR17 (no change) | 01JAN19 (no change) | 01FEB10 (no change) | 01JAN19 (no change) | 01JAN19 (no change) | 01JAN19 (no change) |
|
Other Workers |
01JAN19 (no change) | 01AUG08 (no change) | 01JAN19 (no change) | 01FEB10 (no change) | 01JAN19 (no change) | 01JAN19 (no change) | 01JAN19 (no change) |
This month’s Dates for Filing chart did not advance for any country or EB category.
On the Dates for Filing chart, the India EB-1 cutoff date remains at March 15, 2017. EB-1 China remains at October 1, 2017. EB-1 dates for El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Philippines, Vietnam, and All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed remain current.
EB-2 China remains at August 1, 2016. EB-2 India remains at July 1, 2009. EB-2 categories for All Chargeability Areas, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Philippines, and Vietnam all remain current for February 2020.
The EB-3 cutoff date for China remains at March 1, 2017, and the EB-3 cutoff for India remains at February 1, 2010. EB-3 categories for All Chargeability Areas, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Philippines, and Vietnam remain at January 1, 2019.
If you have any questions or would like more information on the issues discussed in this alert, please contact any of the following Morgan Lewis lawyers:
Washington, DC
Shannon A. Donnelly
Eleanor Pelta
Eric S. Bord
Miami
Laura C. Garvin