Change:

September 2017 Visa Bulletin

For August 2017 Visa Bulletin, please click here: https://www.mygcvisa.com/visa-bulletin/2017/visa-bulletin-august-2017.aspx

For analysis of September 2017 Visa Bulletin, please click here: https://www.mygcvisa.com/visa-bulletin/2017/visa-bulletin-analysis-september-2017.aspx

September 2017 Visa Bulletin has been officially released (valid from September 1 to September 30 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 01MAY10 01MAY10 01MAY10 01FEB96 01JAN07
F2A 01OCT15 01OCT15 01OCT15 22SEP15 01OCT15
F2B 01NOV10 01NOV10 01NOV10  01JUL96 01JAN07
F3 08JUL05 08JUL05 08JUL05 08APR95  15FEB95
F4 01JAN02 01JAN02 01JAN02 15SEP97 01JUN94
"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 22JUL11 22JUL11 22JUL11 01APR96 08SEP07
F2A 08APR16 08APR16 08APR16  08APR16  08APR16
F2B 01SEP11 01SEP11 01SEP11 08AUG96 22JUL07
F3 01DEC05 01DEC05 01DEC05 01MAY95 01MAR95
F4 15NOV04 15NOV04 22JUN04 08JAN98 08FEB95

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 01JAN12 C 01JAN12 C C
2nd 01JAN16  15MAY13 01JAN16 22AUG08 01JAN16 01JAN16
3rd C 01JAN12 C 15OCT06  01NOV15
Other Workers C 01JAN04 15OCT06 01NOV15
4th C C 22OCT15  22OCT15 22OCT15  C
Certain Religious Workers C C 22OCT15 22OCT15  22OCT15 C
5th Non-Regional Center
(C5 and T5)
C 15JUN14 C C C C
5th Regional Center
(I5 and R5)
C 15JUN14 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 01OCT13 01FEB09  C C
3rd C 01SEP15 01JAN07 C 01JAN16
Other Workers C 01JUN08 01JAN07 C 01JAN16
4th C C C C C
Certain Religious Workers C C C C C
5th Non-Regional Center
(C5 and T5)
C 01SEP14 C C C
5th Regional Center
(I5 and R5)
C 01SEP14 C C C

Special Notice from USCIS:(Show/Hide)

D. RETROGRESSION OF FAMILY PREFERENCE FINAL ACTION DATES

Family First Preference (F1): Worldwide, China, El Salvador, Guatemala, India, and Honduras: The continued high level of demand for F1 preference numbers has required the retrogression of the final action date for the month of September. This action has been taken in an attempt to hold number use within the Worldwide F1 annual limit. The final action date for these countries will return to December 22, 2010 for October, the first month of fiscal year 2018.

Family Fourth Preference (F4): Worldwide, China, El Salvador, Guatemala, India, and Honduras: The continued high level of demand for F4 preference numbers has required the retrogression of the final action date for the month of September. This action has been taken in an attempt to hold number use within the Worldwide F4 annual limit. When the final action dates for these countries are announced for October, the first month of fiscal year 2018, they will be returned to the final action dates which had been established for August.

Please Note: Applicants entitled to immigrant status become documentarily qualified at their own initiative and convenience. By no means has every applicant with a priority date earlier than a prevailing final action date been processed for final visa action. On the contrary, visa allotments are made only on the basis of the total applicants reported documentarily qualified each month, compared with the amount of available numbers. For example, during the past month, over 12,000 applicants who became documentarily qualified in the Family preference categories have priority dates earlier than the final action dates established for August. Such demand for visa numbers can fluctuate from month to month, with the inevitable impact on final action dates.

E. DETERMINATION OF THE NUMERICAL LIMITS ON IMMIGRANTS REQUIRED UNDER THE TERMS OF THE IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY ACT (INA)

The State Department is required to make a determination of the worldwide numerical limitations, as outlined in Section 201(c) and (d) of the INA, on an annual basis. These calculations are based in part on data provided by U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS) regarding the number of immediate relative adjustments in the preceding year and the number of aliens paroled into the United States under Section 212(d)(5) in the second preceding year. Without this information, it is impossible to make an official determination of the annual limits. To avoid delays in processing while waiting for the USCIS data, the Visa Office (VO) bases allocations on the minimum annual limits outlined in Section 201 of the INA. On July 31st, USCIS provided the required data to VO.

The Department of State has determined the Family and Employment preference numerical limits for FY-2017 in accordance with the terms of Section 201 of the INA. These numerical limitations for FY-2017 are as follows:

Worldwide Family-Sponsored preference limit: 226,000
Worldwide Employment-Based preference limit: 140,000

Under INA Section 202(a), the per-country limit is fixed at 7% of the family and employment annual limits. For FY-2017 the per-country limit is 25,620. The dependent area annual limit is 2%, or 7,320.

F. REPORTING CHANGES OF ADDRESS FOR CASES BEING PROCESSED OVERSEAS

All readers should be aware that any change of address for applicants processing their case overseas should always be reported to the National Visa Center (NVC). For faster processing, please provide an email address where NVC can contact you about your case. It is essential that NVC have the correct address so they can send information regarding the processing of the case to the applicant.

When contacting NVC directly about an immigrant visa petition, always include the following information:

  • NVC case number or USCIS receipt number
  • Principal applicant’s name
  • Principal applicant's date of birth
  • Petitioner’s name

Email (Preferred)

Email is NVC’s preferred method of communication. You may email questions to NVC by using the online Public Inquiry Form located at: https://nvc.state.gov/ask

Telephone

(603) 334-0700. Customer Service Representatives can speak with you Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m. to Midnight (Eastern Time), excluding holidays.

Postal Mail

You can mail NVC letters to the following address:

National Visa Center
Attn: WC
31 Rochester Avenue, Suite 200
Portsmouth, NH 03801-2915


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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