MARCH 2019 VISA BULLETIN: ANALYSIS AND PREDICTIONS

The Department of State has just issued the March 2019 Visa Bulletin. This is the sixth Visa Bulletin of Fiscal Year 2019. This blog post analyzes this month's Visa Bulletin.

 

March 2019 Visa Bulletin

Table A: Final Action Dates -- Applications with these dates may be approved for their Green Card (Permanent Residency card) or Immigrant Visa appointment.

 

EB  Class	All Other	CHINA	INDIA	PHILIPPINES
EB-1	01JAN18	22FEB17	22FEB17	01JAN18
EB-2	C	01JAN16	09APR09	C
EB-3	C	08JUL15	22MAY09	01DEC17

Table B: Dates for Filing -- The DOS may work on applications with these dates. But the Visa cannot be approved until the date is current per Table A.

 

EB  Class	All Other	CHINA	INDIA	PHILIPPINES
EB-1	01JUN18	01OCT17	01OCT17	01JUN18
EB-2	C	01MAY16	22MAY09	C
EB-3	C	01JAN16	01APR10	01MAR18

MU Law Analysis (all references are to Table A unless noted)

All Other: The EB-1 category moved one month.  We expect continued steady movement in this category for All Other.  We do not see any retrogression in the future for EB2 or EB3, other than the usual retrogression at the end of the Fiscal Year.

 
China: China EB-2 moved three months, moving a total of a half year in just two calendar months.  EB-3 only moved one week, as demand continues in EB-3, likely related to the many EB-3 “downgrades”. 

India: There was very little movement in any of the Indian categories.  We are slightly more optimistic about India EB-3, which could continue to progress faster than EB-2.

 
Philippines: The EB-3 date showed great progress, improving four more months.  By next month, we should see the EB-3 priority date extend into FY2018.