October 2017 Visa Bulletin

D. SPECIAL IMMIGRANT (SI) TRANSLATOR CATEGORY VISA AVAILABILITY

Given the limited availability of visa numbers and the existing demand, the Department expects to reach the FY-2018 annual limit of 50 Special Immigrant Visas in the SI category early in the Fiscal Year. As a result, it has been necessary to establish an October Final Action Date of April 1, 2010. It is likely that number use will require the SI category to become “unavailable” in the coming months. Once the annual limit of 50 visas is reached, further issuances in the SI category will not be possible until October 2018, under the FY-2019 annual limit. The SQ Special Immigrant Visa category for certain Iraqi and Afghan nationals employed by or on behalf of the U.S. government in Iraq or Afghanistan is not affected and remains current.

E. EXTENSION OF TWO EMPLOYMENT VISA CATEGORIES

HR 601 — Continuing Appropriations Act, 2018 and Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief Requirements Act, 2017 extended both the Employment Fourth Preference Certain Religious Workers (SR) and Employment Fifth Preference Pilot (I5 and R5) Categories until December 8, 2017.

F. VISA AVAILABILITY IN THE COMING MONTHS

FAMILY-sponsored categories (potential monthly movement)

Worldwide dates:

F1: Up to several months
F2A: Up to one month
F2B: Up to one month
F3: Three or four weeks
F4: Two or three weeks

EMPLOYMENT-based categories (potential monthly movement)

Employment First: The category will remain “Current”.

Employment Second:

Worldwide: Current

China: Up to four weeks

India: Up to one month

Employment Third:

Worldwide: Current

China: Up to four months

India: Limited forward movement

Mexico: Current

Philippines: Up to two months

Employment Fourth: Current for most countries.

El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras: Up to three weeks

Mexico: some forward movement

Employment Fifth: The category will remain “Current” for most countries.

China-mainland born: Up to one week

The above final action date projections for the Family and Employment categories indicate what is likely to happen on a monthly basis through January based on current applicant demand patterns. Readers should never assume that recent trends in final action date movements are guaranteed for the future, or that "corrective" action will not be required at some point in an effort to maintain number use within the applicable annual limits. The determination of the actual monthly final action dates is subject to fluctuations in applicant demand and a number of other variables.