Change:

May 2016 Visa Bulletin

For April 2016 Visa Bulletin, please click here: https://www.mygcvisa.com/visa-bulletin/2016/visa-bulletin-april-2016.aspx

For analysis of May 2016 Visa Bulletin, please click here: https://www.mygcvisa.com/visa-bulletin/2016/visa-bulletin-analysis-may-2016.aspx

May 2016 Visa Bulletin has been officially released (valid from May 1 to May 31 only). Please see below for more details.

Family Based:
Final Action Dates
Dates For Filing Applications
"Final Action Date" is the date when when USCIS/DOS may render their final decision on submitted applications. Your priority date should be before this date.
Family-
Sponsored 
All Chargeability 
Areas Except
Those Listed
CHINA-mainland 
born
INDIA MEXICO PHILIPPINES 
F1 22NOV08 22NOV08 22NOV08  08FEB95 01OCT04
F2A 01NOV14 01NOV14 01NOV14 15AUG14  01NOV14
F2B 01SEP09 01SEP09 01SEP09 08SEP95 01MAY05
F3 01DEC04 01DEC04 01DEC04 08OCT94 22JAN94
F4 22JUL03 22JUL03 22JUL03 08APR97 01OCT92
"Date for Filing Application" is the date when you can submit I-485/NVC applications to USCIS/DOS. Your priority date should be before this date.
Family-
Sponsored 
All Chargeability 
Areas Except
Those Listed
CHINA-
mainland 
born
INDIA MEXICO PHILIPPINES 
F1 01OCT09 01OCT09 01OCT09 01APR95 01SEP05
F2A 15JUN15 15JUN15 15JUN15 15JUN15 15JUN15
F2B 15DEC10 15DEC10 15DEC10 01APR96 01MAY05
F3 01AUG05 01AUG05 01AUG05 01MAY95 01AUG95
F4 01MAY04 01MAY04 01MAY04 01JUN98 01JAN93

Employment Based:
Final Action Dates
Dates For Filing Applications
"Final Action Date" is the date when when USCIS/DOS may render their final decision on submitted applications. Your priority date should be before this date.
Employment-
based
All Chargeability 
Areas Except
Those Listed
CHINA-
mainland 
born
EL SALVADOR
GUATEMALA
HONDURAS
INDIA MEXICO PHILIPPINES
1st C C C C C C
2nd C 01SEP12 C 22NOV08 C C
3rd 15FEB16 15AUG13 15FEB16 01SEP04 15FEB16 08AUG08
Other Workers 15FEB16 22APR07 15FEB16 01SEP04 15FEB16 08AUG08
4th C C 01JAN10 C C C
Certain Religious Workers C C 01JAN10 C C C
5th Non-Regional Center
(C5 and T5)
C 08FEB14 C C C C
5th Regional Center
(I5 and R5)
C 08FEB14 C C C C
"Date for Filing Application" is the date when you can submit I-485/NVC applications to USCIS/DOS. Your priority date should be before this date.
Employment- 
based
All Chargeability 
Areas Except
Those Listed
CHINA-
mainland 
born
INDIA MEXICO PHILIPPINES 
1st C C C C C
2nd C 01JUN13 01JUL09 C C
3rd C 01MAY15 01JUL05 C 01JAN10
Other Workers C 01APR08 01JUL05 C 01JAN10
4th C C C C C
Certain Religious Workers C C C C C
5th Non-Regional Center
(C5 and T5)
C 01MAY15 C C C
5th Regional Center
(I5 and R5)
C 01MAY15 C C C

Special Notice from USCIS:(Show/Hide)

D.  VISA AVAILABILITY DURING THE COMING MONTHS

FAMILY-SPONSORED:

CHINA F4:  The level of applicant demand being received has begun to increase.  Should this pattern continue, it will be necessary to either hold or retrogress this final action date in late summer.  That action would be necessary to hold number use within the overall China Family-sponsored annual limit. 

INDIA F4:  The amount of demand being reported for applicants with priority dates which are significantly earlier than the established cut-off date has increased dramatically in recent months.  As a result, it is likely that this final action date will be retrogressed, possibly as early as June.  This action would be necessary to hold number use within the overall India Family-sponsored annual limit. 

EMPLOYMENT-BASED:

CHINA E3:  There has been an extremely large increase in Employment Third preference applicant demand in recent weeks.  This is likely due to the “downgrading” of status by applicants who had originally filed in the Employment Second preference.  This has resulted in the Third preference final action date being held for the month of May.  Continued heavy demand for numbers will require a retrogression of this date for June to hold number use within the FY-2016 annual limit.
 

During the past month, there have been extremely high levels of Employment-based demand in most categories for cases filed with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for adjustment of status.  If this sudden and unanticipated change in the demand pattern continues, it could impact final action dates in the coming months and possibly require corrective action in some.

E.  OVERSUBSCRIPTION OF THE EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, AND HONDURAS EMPLOYMENT-BASED FOURTH (E4) AND CERTAIN RELIGIOUS WORKERS (SR) PREFERENCE CATEGORIES

There is currently extremely high demand in the E4 and SR categories for applicants from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.  This demand is primarily for Juvenile Court Dependent cases filed with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for adjustment of status. Pursuant to the Immigration and Nationality Act, this requires implementing E4 and SR Application Final Action Dates for these countries, which will allow the Department to hold worldwide number use within the maximum allowed under the FY-2016 annual limits.  Any forward movement during the remainder of FY-2016 is unlikely although no specific prediction is possible.

A determination as to whether these countries will remain subject to E4 and SR final application dates under the FY-2017 annual numerical limitation will be made in early September.  Future visa availability will depend on a combination of demand for numbers being reported each month, and the extent to which otherwise unused numbers become available.

It is extremely likely that the India and Mexico Employment Fourth Preference categories will also become oversubscribed at some point during the summer months.


Also See:

More Options: If you are new to immigration process or would like to see what other immigration options are available, please click here: https://www.mygcvisa.com/immigration/

Email Newsletter: To receive email as soon as latest visa bulletin is released, please click here.

When Can I Get My Green Card: Get step-by-step details on when you can expect to get your green card (including latest timeframe for each step of GC process for both EB and FB categories).

USCIS/NVC Timeframe: Please click here to see how long it currently takes to process application.

Current Step: If your priority date is not current, then you can calculate when it may become current, check your case status, case processing time, etc: https://www.mygcvisa.com/calculator

Next Steps: If priority date is current and

1. If applicant is inside US, they will have to file I-485: https://blog.mygcvisa.com/2013/04/how-to-file-i-485-application.html

2. If applicant is outside US, it will be sent to NVC: https://www.mygcvisa.com/nvc/overview-after-nvc-petition-approved.aspx

Recommended Reading:

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