The Department of State’s Visa Bulletins for August and September 2017 include news on several topics.
The August bulletin notes the oversubscription of the employment-based second preference (EB-2) category. High demand for numbers for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) adjustment-of-status applicants has required the establishment of cut-off dates for August for Worldwide, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Philippines EB-2 visa numbers. The bulletin says this action will allow number use to be held within the Worldwide annual limit. The Department expects the date for these countries to once again become Current for October, the first month of fiscal year (FY) 2018.
The September bulletin notes that any changes of address for applicants processing their cases overseas should always be reported to the National Visa Center (NVC). The bulletin provides details about what to include in communications with NVC and contact information.
The September bulletin also notes the annual determination of the numerical limits on immigrants for FY 2017. The worldwide employment-based preference limit is 140,000. For FY 2017, the per-country limit is 25,620 and the dependent area annual limit is 7,320.
The August bulletin is at https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/law-and-policy/bulletin/2017/visa-bulletin-for-august-2017.html. The September bulletin is at https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/law-and-policy/bulletin/2017/visa-bulletin-for-september-2017.html.