FEBRUARY 2019 VISA BULLETIN: ANALYSIS AND PREDICTIONS

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

February 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	01DEC17	08FEB17	08FEB17	01DEC17
EB-2	C	01OCT15	06APR09	C
EB-3	C	01JUL15	22APR09	01AUG17

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	01NOV15	22MAY09	C
EB-3	C	01JAN16	01APR10	01OCT17

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

All Other: As we expected, the EB-1 category again moved several months.  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: Likewise, the China EB-1 category progressed several months. This category may not move as fast as All Other in the next few Visa Bulletins.  China EB-2 moved two months.  EB-3 only moved a few weeks, reflecting continued high demand.  Still, we expect EB-3 to slightly outpace EB-2 in the next few Visa Bulletins.

India: India EB-2 moved by just one week. EB-3 progressed by six weeks.  We expect the slow/no progress to be standard for EB-2 in the first part of FY 2019.  We are slightly more optimistic about India EB-3, which could continue to progress faster than EB-2.

Philippines: The EB-3 date showed steady progress, improving by six weeks. Over the course of FY2019, we should eventually see the EB-3 priority date extend into FY2018.