U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE · VISA BULLETIN
October 2018
Final Action Dates and Dates for Filing as published in the Visa Bulletin for October 2018. Changes are against September 2018.
What changed from September 2018
Final Action Dates: 45 moved forward, 0 moved back
- F1 (all other countries) advanced 54 days, from 08 APR 2011 to 01 JUN 2011.
- F1 China advanced 54 days, from 08 APR 2011 to 01 JUN 2011.
- F1 India advanced 54 days, from 08 APR 2011 to 01 JUN 2011.
- F1 Philippines advanced 37 days, from 15 NOV 2006 to 22 DEC 2006.
- F2A (all other countries) advanced 31 days, from 22 JUL 2016 to 22 AUG 2016.
- F2A China advanced 31 days, from 22 JUL 2016 to 22 AUG 2016.
- F2A India advanced 31 days, from 22 JUL 2016 to 22 AUG 2016.
- F2A Mexico advanced 31 days, from 01 JUL 2016 to 01 AUG 2016.
- F2A Philippines advanced 31 days, from 22 JUL 2016 to 22 AUG 2016.
- F2B (all other countries) advanced 21 days, from 01 NOV 2011 to 22 NOV 2011.
- F2B China advanced 21 days, from 01 NOV 2011 to 22 NOV 2011.
- F2B India advanced 21 days, from 01 NOV 2011 to 22 NOV 2011.
- F2B Mexico advanced 23 days, from 22 APR 1997 to 15 MAY 1997.
- F2B Philippines advanced 23 days, from 22 APR 2007 to 15 MAY 2007.
- F3 (all other countries) advanced 45 days, from 01 MAY 2006 to 15 JUN 2006.
- F3 China advanced 45 days, from 01 MAY 2006 to 15 JUN 2006.
- F3 India advanced 45 days, from 01 MAY 2006 to 15 JUN 2006.
- F3 Philippines advanced 7 days, from 01 JUN 1995 to 08 JUN 1995.
- F4 (all other countries) advanced 38 days, from 08 JAN 2005 to 15 FEB 2005.
- F4 China advanced 38 days, from 08 JAN 2005 to 15 FEB 2005.
- F4 India advanced 23 days, from 08 APR 2004 to 01 MAY 2004.
- F4 Mexico advanced 7 days, from 15 JAN 1998 to 22 JAN 1998.
- F4 Philippines advanced 7 days, from 01 JUN 1995 to 08 JUN 1995.
- EB-1 (all other countries) advanced 10 months, from 01 JUN 2016 to 01 APR 2017.
- EB-1 China advanced 53 months, from 01 JAN 2012 to 01 JUN 2016.
- EB-1 India advanced 53 months, from 01 JAN 2012 to 01 JUN 2016.
- EB-1 Mexico advanced 10 months, from 01 JUN 2016 to 01 APR 2017.
- EB-1 Philippines advanced 10 months, from 01 JUN 2016 to 01 APR 2017.
- EB-2 (all other countries) went from 01 JAN 2013 to CURRENT.
- EB-2 China advanced 27 months, from 01 JAN 2013 to 01 APR 2015.
- EB-2 India advanced 27 months, from 01 JAN 2007 to 26 MAR 2009.
- EB-2 Mexico went from 01 JAN 2013 to CURRENT.
- EB-2 Philippines went from 01 JAN 2013 to CURRENT.
- EB-3 (all other countries) went from 01 NOV 2016 to CURRENT.
- EB-3 China advanced 7 months, from 01 NOV 2014 to 01 JUN 2015.
- EB-3 India advanced 72 months, from 01 JAN 2003 to 01 JAN 2009.
- EB-3 Mexico went from 01 NOV 2016 to CURRENT.
- EB-3 Philippines advanced 7 months, from 01 NOV 2016 to 01 JUN 2017.
- EB-3 Other Workers (all other countries) went from 01 NOV 2016 to CURRENT.
- EB-3 Other Workers India advanced 72 months, from 01 JAN 2003 to 01 JAN 2009.
- EB-3 Other Workers Mexico went from 01 NOV 2016 to CURRENT.
- EB-3 Other Workers Philippines advanced 7 months, from 01 NOV 2016 to 01 JUN 2017.
- EB-4 India went from 15 FEB 2016 to CURRENT.
- EB-4 Mexico advanced 8 months, from 15 FEB 2016 to 22 OCT 2016.
- EB-5 China advanced 7 days, from 08 AUG 2014 to 15 AUG 2014.
Dates for Filing: 14 moved forward, 6 moved back
- F1 Mexico advanced 37 days, from 01 SEP 1998 to 08 OCT 1998.
- F2B Mexico advanced 14 days, from 08 JUN 1997 to 22 JUN 1997.
- F3 (all other countries) advanced 4 months, from 22 SEP 2006 to 08 JAN 2007.
- F3 China advanced 4 months, from 22 SEP 2006 to 08 JAN 2007.
- F3 India advanced 4 months, from 22 SEP 2006 to 08 JAN 2007.
- F3 Mexico advanced 2 months, from 08 OCT 1998 to 22 DEC 1998.
- F3 Philippines advanced 22 months, from 01 AUG 1995 to 01 JUN 1997.
- F4 (all other countries) advanced 31 days, from 01 MAY 2005 to 01 JUN 2005.
- F4 China advanced 31 days, from 01 MAY 2005 to 01 JUN 2005.
- F4 Mexico advanced 21 days, from 01 JUN 1998 to 22 JUN 1998.
- F4 Philippines advanced 4 months, from 01 DEC 1995 to 08 APR 1996.
- EB-2 China advanced 2 months, from 01 APR 2015 to 15 JUN 2015.
- EB-3 India advanced 5 months, from 01 MAY 2009 to 01 OCT 2009.
- EB-3 Other Workers India advanced 5 months, from 01 MAY 2009 to 01 OCT 2009.
- EB-1 (all other countries) went from CURRENT to 01 JUN 2018.
- EB-1 China went from CURRENT to 01 OCT 2017.
- EB-1 India went from CURRENT to 01 OCT 2017.
- EB-1 Mexico went from CURRENT to 01 JUN 2018.
- EB-1 Philippines went from CURRENT to 01 JUN 2018.
- EB-3 China retrogressed 5 months, from 01 JAN 2016 to 08 AUG 2015.
Compared cell by cell with the September 2018 bulletin, for the family and employment categories and the five chargeability columns shown on this site (81 Final Action cells this month). "Advanced" means the published date moved later; "retrogressed" means it moved earlier. This is a description of the two published bulletins, not a forecast.
The October 2018 charts
| Category | Rest of world | China | India | Mexico | Philippines |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F1 | 01 JUN 2011+54 d | 01 JUN 2011+54 d | 01 JUN 2011+54 d | 01 AUG 1997no change | 22 DEC 2006+37 d |
| F2A | 22 AUG 2016+31 d | 22 AUG 2016+31 d | 22 AUG 2016+31 d | 01 AUG 2016+31 d | 22 AUG 2016+31 d |
| F2B | 22 NOV 2011+21 d | 22 NOV 2011+21 d | 22 NOV 2011+21 d | 15 MAY 1997+23 d | 15 MAY 2007+23 d |
| F3 | 15 JUN 2006+45 d | 15 JUN 2006+45 d | 15 JUN 2006+45 d | 22 DEC 1995no change | 08 JUN 1995+7 d |
| F4 | 15 FEB 2005+38 d | 15 FEB 2005+38 d | 01 MAY 2004+23 d | 22 JAN 1998+7 d | 08 JUN 1995+7 d |
| Category | Rest of world | China | India | Mexico | Philippines |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EB-1 | 01 APR 2017+10 mo | 01 JUN 2016+53 mo | 01 JUN 2016+53 mo | 01 APR 2017+10 mo | 01 APR 2017+10 mo |
| EB-2 | CURRENTbecame current | 01 APR 2015+27 mo | 26 MAR 2009+27 mo | CURRENTbecame current | CURRENTbecame current |
| EB-3 | CURRENTbecame current | 01 JUN 2015+7 mo | 01 JAN 2009+72 mo | CURRENTbecame current | 01 JUN 2017+7 mo |
| EB-3 Other Workers | CURRENTbecame current | 01 MAY 2007no change | 01 JAN 2009+72 mo | CURRENTbecame current | 01 JUN 2017+7 mo |
| EB-4 | CURRENTno change | CURRENTno change | CURRENTbecame current | 22 OCT 2016+8 mo | CURRENTno change |
| EB-5 | CURRENTno change | 15 AUG 2014+7 d | CURRENTno change | CURRENTno change | CURRENTno change |
| Category | Rest of world | China | India | Mexico | Philippines |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F1 | 08 MAR 2012no change | 08 MAR 2012no change | 08 MAR 2012no change | 08 OCT 1998+37 d | 15 FEB 2008no change |
| F2A | 01 DEC 2017no change | 01 DEC 2017no change | 01 DEC 2017no change | 01 DEC 2017no change | 01 DEC 2017no change |
| F2B | 22 MAR 2014no change | 22 MAR 2014no change | 22 MAR 2014no change | 22 JUN 1997+14 d | 15 DEC 2007no change |
| F3 | 08 JAN 2007+4 mo | 08 JAN 2007+4 mo | 08 JAN 2007+4 mo | 22 DEC 1998+2 mo | 01 JUN 1997+22 mo |
| F4 | 01 JUN 2005+31 d | 01 JUN 2005+31 d | 01 JAN 2005no change | 22 JUN 1998+21 d | 08 APR 1996+4 mo |
| Category | Rest of world | China | India | Mexico | Philippines |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EB-1 | 01 JUN 2018cutoff imposed | 01 OCT 2017cutoff imposed | 01 OCT 2017cutoff imposed | 01 JUN 2018cutoff imposed | 01 JUN 2018cutoff imposed |
| EB-2 | CURRENTno change | 15 JUN 2015+2 mo | 22 MAY 2009no change | CURRENTno change | CURRENTno change |
| EB-3 | CURRENTno change | 08 AUG 2015−5 mo | 01 OCT 2009+5 mo | CURRENTno change | 01 JUL 2017no change |
| EB-3 Other Workers | CURRENTno change | 01 JUN 2008no change | 01 OCT 2009+5 mo | CURRENTno change | 01 JUL 2017no change |
| EB-4 | CURRENTno change | CURRENTno change | CURRENTno change | CURRENTno change | CURRENTno change |
| EB-5 | CURRENTno change | 01 OCT 2014no change | CURRENTno change | CURRENTno change | CURRENTno change |
Source: Visa Bulletin for October 2018, U.S. Department of State. Archived October 17, 2026. The bulletin also contains notes, diversity-visa numbers and categories not shown here; read the full bulletin at the source.