Visa Bulletin February 2020 Predictions

For official January 2020 Visa Bulletin and analysis, please click here: https://www.mygcvisa.com/visa-bulletin/2020/visa-bulletin-january-2020.aspx

Please see February 2020 Visa Bulletin Predictions below (for both Family Based and Employment Based):

Family Based:

Final Action Dates

Dates For Filing Applications

"Final Action Date" is the date when when USCIS/DOS may render their final decision on submitted applications. Your priority date should be before this date.

Family- Sponsored	All Chargeability  Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA-mainland  born	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
F1	15SEP13	15SEP13	15SEP13	22AUG97	15MAR09
F2A	C	C	C	C	C
F2B	22OCT14	22OCT14	22OCT14	01OCT98	22MAR09
F3	22DEC07	22DEC07	22DEC07	08MAR96	22APR99
F4	01APR07	01APR07	22NOV04	01FEB98	22JUN99

"Date for Filing Application" is the date when you can submit I-485/NVC applications to USCIS/DOS. Your priority date should be before this date.

Family- Sponsored	All Chargeability  Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA-mainland  born	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
F1	15MAY14	15MAY14	15MAY14	01DEC99	01NOV09
F2A	01JAN20	01JAN20	01JAN20	01JAN20	01JAN20
F2B	01MAY15	01MAY15	01MAY15	08JUN99	01DEC09
F3	01SEP08	01SEP08	01SEP08	22JUL00	08NOV99
F4	01SEP07	01SEP07	22JUL05	22JAN99	01JAN00

Law School Graduate Who Posed As Licensed Attorney Pleads Guilty To Mail Fraud And Aggravated Identity Theft

TAMPA, Fla. — Roberta A. Guedes has pleaded guilty to mail fraud and aggravated identity theft in connection with a fraudulent scheme wherein she posed and practiced law as a licensed attorney. Guedes faces a maximum sentence of 22 years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

According to the plea agreement, in 2014, Guedes graduated from Stetson University College of Law, but twice failed the Florida Bar exam. Guedes has never been licensed to practice law in Florida nor in any other state. Despite this, in the fall of 2014, Guedes incorporated two fake law firms—Ferguson and McKenzie LLC and Immigration and Litigation Law Office, Inc. Guedes m

January 2020 Visa Bulletin Analysis

For January 2020 Visa Bulletin, please click here: https://www.mygcvisa.com/visa-bulletin/2020/visa-bulletin-january-2020.aspx

Please see below analysis of January 2020 Visa Bulletin:

Family Based:

Final Action Dates

Dates For Filing Applications

"Final Action Date" is the date when when USCIS/DOS may render their final decision on submitted applications. Your priority date should be before this date.

Family- Sponsored	All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA-mainland born	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
F1	+2 Months	+2 Months	+2 Months	No Change	+2 Months 14 Days
F2A	No Change	No Change	No Change	No Change	No Change
F2B	No Change	No Change	No Change	No Change	+2 Months
F3	+7 Days	+7 Days	+7 Days	+8 Days	+4 Months
F4	No Change	No Change	+7 Days	+24 Days	+2 Months 17 Days

"Date for Filing Application" is the date when you can submit I-485/NVC applications to USCIS/DOS. Your priority date should be before this date.

Family- Sponsored	All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA-mainland born	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
F1	+4 Months	+4 Months	+4 Months	No Change	+4 Months 14 Days
F2A	+1 Month	+1 Month	+1 Month	+1 Month	+1 Month
F2B	+2 Months	+2 Months	+2 Months	No Change	+4 Months
F3	+2 Months	+2 Months	+2 Months	No Change	+6 Months
F4	No Change	No Change	+7 Days	No Change	+4 Months 16 Days

January 2020 Visa Bulletin

For December 2019 Visa Bulletin, please click here: https://www.mygcvisa.com/visa-bulletin/2019/visa-bulletin-december-2019.aspx

For analysis of January 2020 Visa Bulletin, please click here: https://www.mygcvisa.com/visa-bulletin/2020/visa-bulletin-analysis-january-2020.aspx

January 2020 Visa Bulletin has been officially released (valid from January 1 to January 31 only). Please see below for more details.

Family Based:

Final Action Dates

Dates For Filing Applications

"Final Action Date" is the date when when USCIS/DOS may render their final decision on submitted applications. Your priority date should be before this date.

Family- Sponsored	All Chargeability  Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA-mainland  born	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
F1	15JUL13	15JUL13	15JUL13	08AUG97	15JAN09
F2A	C	C	C	C	C
F2B	08AUG14	08AUG14	08AUG14	22AUG98	01FEB09
F3	15NOV07	15NOV07	15NOV07	01MAR96	01JAN99
F4	01FEB07	01FEB07	08NOV04	08JAN98	01MAR99

"Date for Filing Application" is the date when you can submit I-485/NVC applications to USCIS/DOS. Your priority date should be before this date.

Family- Sponsored	All Chargeability  Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA- mainland  born	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
F1	15MAR14	15MAR14	15MAR14	15NOV99	15SEP09
F2A	01NOV19	01NOV19	01NOV19	01NOV19	01NOV19
F2B	08APR15	08APR15	08APR15	22APR99	01OCT09
F3	15JUL08	15JUL08	15JUL08	15JUL00	01SEP99
F4	22JUL07	22JUL07	08JUL05	01JAN99	01NOV99

January 2020 Visa Bulletin Special Notes

For the official January 2020 Visa Bulletin and analysis, please click here: https://www.mygcvisa.com/visa-bulletin/2020/visa-bulletin-january-2020.aspx

Apart from posting current dates, State Department has also added special notes to Visa Bulletin mentioned above. Please see full details below:

D. SCHEDULED EXPIRATION OF TWO EMPLOYMENT VISA CATEGORIES

Employment Fourth Preference Certain Religious Workers (SR):

Pursuant to the continuing resolution signed on November 21, 2019, the non-minister special immigrant program expires on December 20, 2019. No SR visas may be issued overseas, or final action taken on adjustment of status cases, after midnight December 19, 2019. Visas issued prior to this date will only be issued with a validity date of December 19, 2019, 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 19, 2019.

The final action date for this category has been listed as "Unavailable" for January.

If there is legislative action extending this category for FY 2020, the final action date would immediately become "Current"

USCIS Expands Guidance Related to Naturalization Requirement of Good Moral Character

WASHINGTON— Today, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services expanded its policy guidance (PDF, 290 KB) regarding unlawful acts that may prevent an applicant from meeting the good moral character (GMC) requirement for naturalization. The commission of, or conviction or imprisonment for, an unlawful act, during the statutory period for naturalization, may render an applicant ineligible for naturalization should the act be found to adversely reflect on moral character.  

Previously, the <a target='_blank' href="https://www.uscis.gov/policy-ma

Judicial Victories in Public Charge Cases Give Trump Admin. Confidence for Implementation of Long-standing Law

WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services obtained judicial victories in decisions issued by the Ninth Circuit last week and the Fourth Circuit Monday to stay the injunctions and respect the legal authority vested in the Administration by the U.S. Congress to enforce long-standing law requiring aliens seeking to come or stay in the United States to be self-sufficient.

“USCIS is encouraged by the recent judicial decisions that are positive signs that the implementation of the rule of inadmissibility based on public charge grounds is possible,” said USCIS Acting Deputy Director Kathy Nuebel Kovarik. “This rule enforces long-standing immigration law, one that has been aroun

USCIS Implements Two Decisions from the Attorney General on Good Moral Character Determinations

WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today announced new policy guidance (PDF, 404 KB) implementing two decisions from the attorney general regarding how two or more DUI convictions affect good moral character (GMC) requirements and how post-sentencing changes to criminal sentences affect convictions and sentences for immigration purposes.

On Oct. 25, the attorney general decided in Matter of Castillo-Perez  that two or more

Tools Outage

USCIS will conduct system maintenance to the Customer Relationship Interface System (CRIS) from Monday, December 9 at 11:59 p.m. until Tuesday, December 10 at 3:00 a.m. (EDT.)

During this timeframe, users may experience technical difficulties with one or more of the following online tools:

• Check My Case Status
• Change of Address Online
• myUSCIS Online Account

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

USCIS Announces Implementation of H-1B Electronic Registration Process for Fiscal Year 2021 Cap Season

WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today announced that it has completed a successful pilot testing phase and is implementing the registration process in the next H-1B lottery. Employers seeking to file H-1B cap-subject petitions for the fiscal year 2021 cap, including those eligible for the advanced degree exemption, must first electronically register and pay the associated $10 H-1B registration fee.

The electronic registration process will dramatically streamline processing by reducing paperwork and data exchange, and will provide an overall cost savings to petitioning employers.

Under this new process, employers seeking H-1B workers subject to the cap, or th