A Review of FY2018 U.S. Green Card Approvals and Issuances

The State Department and USCIS both released their fiscal year 2018 reports not long ago, and I took a look at the data on a whim.

Adjustment of Status: Refugee and Asylum Approvals Up, Employment-Based Down

• In fiscal year 2018, a total of 578,200 I-485 applications were approved, the highest in the past five years (surprising!). Family-based immigration approvals were 262,000, a decrease from fiscal years 2016 and 2017. Employment-based immigration approvals were 109,400, the lowest in the past five years. Refugee and political asylum approvals were 111,800, the highest in the past five years (surprising!).

• The overall approval rate dropped by 1 percentage point, with: family-based immigration down 2-3 percentage points; employment-based immigration down 3-4 percentage points; refugee and asylum up 1 percentage point; other categories up 1-2 percentage points.

Adjustment of Status: Family-Based 50%, Employment-Based 20%

• Family-based immigration accounts for about 50%, employment-based immigration for less than 20%, and refugees and political asylum for about 18%.

Overseas Consulates: Family-Based 85%, Employment-Based 5%

• Overseas consulates issued 530,000 immigrant visas, slightly lower than the number of green cards issued through adjustment of status within the United States.

• Immediate relatives and family-based immigrants account for about 85%, employment-based immigrants about 5%, and diversity visa and special immigrants about 10%.

Overall Numbers

Family-based immigration, including immediate relatives not subject to numerical limits, accounted for about 65% of the total; excluding immediate relatives, the share was about 55%. Under the approach that includes immediate relatives, employment-based immigration made up roughly 12% of the total, while refugees and political asylum accounted for about 11%.

[https://gonglue.us/14941] [https://gonglue.us/7451]