Visa Bulletin for January 2018

What the State Department said

Special immigrant (si) translator category visa availability

Given the limited availability of visa numbers and the existing demand, the Department expects to reach the FY-2018 annual limit of 50 Special Immigrant Visas in the SI category early in the Fiscal Year. As a result, it has been necessary to hold the January Final Action Date at April 1, 2010. It is likely that number use will require the SI category to become “unavailable” in the coming months. Once the annual limit of 50 visas is reached, further issuances in the SI category will not be possible until October 2018, under the FY-2019 annual limit. The SQ Special Immigrant Visa category for certain Iraqi and Afghan nationals employed by or on behalf of the U.S. government in Iraq or Afghanistan is not affected and remains current.

Scheduled expiration of two employment visa categories

Employment Fourth Preference Certain Religious Workers (SR):

Pursuant to the continuing resolution, signed on December 7, 2017, the non-minister special immigrant program expires on December 22, 2017. No SR visas may be issued overseas, or final action taken on adjustment of status cases, after midnight December 21, 2017. Visas issued prior to this date will only be issued with a validity date of December 21, 2017, and all individuals seeking admission as a non-minister special immigrant must be admitted (repeat, admitted) into the U.S. no later than midnight December 21, 2017.

The final action date for this category has been listed as “Unavailable” for January. If there is legislative action extending this category for FY-2018, the final action date would immediately become “Current” for January for all countries except El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras which would be subject to a December 1, 2015 final action date, and for Mexico which would be subject to a June 1, 2016 date.

Employment Fifth Preference Categories (I5 and R5):

The continuing resolution signed on December 7, 2017 extended this immigrant investor pilot program until December 22, 2017. The I5 and R5 visas may be issued until close of business on December 22, 2017, and may be issued for the full validity period. No I5 or R5 visas may be issued overseas, or final action taken on adjustment of status cases, after December 22, 2017.

The final action dates for the I5 and R5 categories have been listed as “Unavailable” for January. If there is legislative action extending them for FY-2018, the final action dates would immediately become “Current” for January for all countries except China-mainland born I5 and R5 which would be subject to a July 22, 2014 final action date.

Annual report of immigrant visa applicants in the family-sponsored and employment-based preferences registered at the national visa center as of november 1, 2017

The National Visa Center has provided the totals of applicants who are registered in the various numerically-limited immigrant categories for processing at overseas posts. This information is available on the Consular Affairs travel.state.gov website. The direct link to the item is:

travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin.html