Charles (“Charlie”) Oppenheim, Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division of the U.S. Department of State, has provided predictions for the upcoming visa bulletin. Charlie sets “Dates for Filing” based on Final Action Date estimates over the course of the next 8 to 12 months.
In essence, the visa bulletin provides a look into when certain visas will be available to immigrants filing for adjustment of status (I-485) to obtain lawful permanent residency by either employment-based or family-sponsored petitions. The visa bulletin indicates when the “Final Action Dates” of certain visa classes will become current. In other words, the visa bulletin indicates the earliest date applicants can file their adjustment of status applications. The visa bulletin provides earliest filing dates for applicants based on country of birth.
EB-1
Charlie indicated that EB-1 Worldwide Final Action Date will move to April 1, 2017 based on the October 2018 Visa Bulletin. Charlie predicted that the EB-1 Worldwide priority date will not likely become current before 2019 due to the EB-1 demand. However, Charlie stated that EB-1 Worldwide would likely advance forward in early 2019 (i.e. ~January). Due to the demand of EB-1 at this time, Charlie is unable to predict if and when EB-1 Worldwide would become current in FY2019.
For applicants born in India and China, Charlie does not anticipate any advancement of the Final Action Date in EB-1 categories before January 2019.
EB-2 and EB-3 Worldwide
Charlie indicated that both EB-2 and EB-3 Worldwide categories would return to current in October. He anticipates that both categories will remain current through the calendar year.