The Visa Bulletin for September 2016 was released by The Department of State. For September 2016 only minor changes were seen with regard to movement of final action dates in most of the employment-based categories from the August 2016 Visa Bulletin.

The priority date remains current for applicants in the EB-5 category other than those born in Mainland, China. It maintains a cutoff date of February 15, 2014.

Those seeking to file applications for adjustment of status, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) website indicates that the “Final Action Dates” chart must be used to determine when an employment-based application is eligible to file Form I-485.

The Department of State also determined the Family and Employment preference numerical limits for FY2016, as outlined in Section 201(c) and (d) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) as follows: 

Worldwide Family-Sponsored preference limit:           226,000

Worldwide Employment-Based preference limit:        140,338

TOTAL                                                                  366,338

The per-country limit is fixed at 7 percent of the combined annual limits or 25,644 for FY2016. The dependent area annual limit is fixed at 2 percent of the combined annual limits or 7,327 for FY2016.