On June 18, 2018, Charlie Oppenheim, Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division of the US Department of State (DOS), provided American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) with the following analysis of the current trends and projections for visa number availability for the various immigrant preference categories. These numbers are published in the Visa Bulletin each month.
Employment-Based Preference Categories
EB-1 China, EB-1 India. These categories will remain steady at January 1, 2012, until the remainder of the fiscal year (October 2018). It is hoped that visa numbers in these categories will become available again on October 1, 2018.
EB-1 Worldwide. Charlie expects that a final action date will need to be imposed either in August or September 2018 but that the numbers will become current again in October.
EB-2 Worldwide. Charlie may need to impose a final action date either in August or September 2018 but the numbers will become current again in October.
EB-2 India. These numbers will advance to March 15, 2009, in July 2018 and is likely to remain steady at that date through October 1, 2018.
EB-2 China and EB-3 China. In July, the EB-2 China numbers will catapult forward by four months to January 1, 2015. EB-3 China demand is very high because of hundreds of downgrades and has reached its limit. This has resulted in EB-2 China numbers being two years ahead of EB-3 China. No further advancement in EB-3 China should be expected this viscal year, with the final action date returning to June 1, 2015, in October 2018.
EB-5 China. The final action date for EB-5 China will hold at August 1, 2014 and is expect to remain at that date through at least September.