Washington, D.C. – February 15, 2019. The March 2019 Visa Bulletin released today by the U.S. Department of State reflects the political events that are making headlines in Washington, D.C.

The potential for a partial U.S. federal government shutdown unless Congress and the President agree to new laws to fund the U.S. government causes the March 2019 Visa Bulletin to report the EB-5 Regional Center green card category “Unavailable” for all countries, with the formal note that once these funding laws are passed, the EB-5 Regional Center green card category will once again become current for all countries except for China (September 8, 2014 cut-off date, moving up 1-week from the February 2019 Visa Bulletin) and Vietnam (July 15, 2016 cut-off date, moving up 1-month from the February 2019 Visa Bulletin).

The good news is that the President is expected to approve the funding laws that Congress already passed this week, which extend the EB-5 Regional Center Program without changes until September 30, 2019. Also good news is that the EB-5 category does not report a waiting list for India EB-5 – though public statements from the Department of State still indicate to expect such a waiting list by mid-2019.

We also note that the EB-1 world-wide cut-off date has moved up 1-month to January 1, 2018, and while the China and India EB-1 cut-off date moved up 2-weeks to February 22, 2017.

The EB-2 cut-off dates for China and India show some forward movement in March 2019. The China EB-2 cut-off moved to January 1, 2016 (up from October 1, 2015). The India EB-2 cut-off date advanced to May 22, 2009 (up from April 6, 2009).

The March 2019 Visa Bulletin can be found here:

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin/2019/visa-bulletin-for-march-2019.html

I.A. Donoso & Associates, LLC, is a law firm based in Washington, D.C., and is recognized as a leading immigration law firm with recognized expertise in visas for EB-5 investors, professionals and academics.