September 2017 Visa Bulletin: Retrogression Hits Family Categories as Fiscal Year Ends

The State Department has released the September 2017 Visa Bulletin listing the priority dates eligible for “Application Final Action,” i.e. when an I-485 adjustment of status (AOS) application may be approved or an immigrant visa (IV) issued, and the priority dates eligible for “Filing Applications,” i.e. when an AOS or IV application may be filed.

As of September 1, 2017, retrogressions will hit the “Final Action Dates” in the family-based first (F1) and fourth (F4) categories. The F1 priority date for nationals of all countries except Mexico and the Philippines will retrogress seven months to May 1, 2010. Worse, the F4 worldwide (WW), China, and India priority dates will retrogress approximately two years to January 1, 2002. When the new fiscal year begins in October 2017, the state department expects the F1 priority date to return to December 22, 2010, and the F4 priority date to return to the cutoff dates established in the August 2017 visa bulletin.

On the positive side, the family-based second preference priority date for spouses and children of Lawful Permanent Residents (F2A) will advance a few weeks for all countries, and nationals of the Philippines will see advances of at least a few weeks in each family-based category.

There will be no advance in the family-based “Dates for Filing” except for a one month advance in the family-based third preference (F3) priority date for the Philippines.

On the employment-based side, following last month’s retrogression the EB-2 “Final Action Date” for all countries except China and India, will advance nine months to January 1, 2016. For China and India, the EB-2 priority date will advance one month. The department expects this category to become current again when the new fiscal year begins in October 2017, for all countries except China and India.

The employment-based “Final Action Dates” in the EB-3 category will advance five months for nationals of the Philippines and three months for nationals of India, but will remain stagnant for nationals of China. EB-3 “worldwide” and Mexico will remain “current.”

There will be no movement in the “Dates for Filing” in the employment-based categories.

As a reminder, the “Dates for Filing Applications” are valid only for consular processing immigrant visa applications. USCIS makes a separate determination whether to allow the filing of AOS applications under the “Dates for Filing” chart or the “Final Action Dates” chart in the visa bulletin. USCIS has determined that the “Final Action Dates” chart must be used for both family-based and employment-based adjustment of status filings in September 2017.

You can view the visa bulletin in its entirety below. Please contact us with any questions.