The Department of State has recentlyissued the October 2022 Visa Bulletin. This blog postanalyzes this month’s Visa Bulletin.
Visa Bulletin
Table A: Final Action Dates — Applications with these dates may beapproved for their Green Card (Permanent Residency card) or Immigrant Visaappointment.
|
EB |
Worldwide |
CHINA |
INDIA |
PHILIPPINES |
|
1st |
C |
C |
C |
C |
|
2nd |
C |
08JUN19 |
01APR12 |
C |
|
3rd |
C |
15JUN18 |
01APR12 |
C |
|
Other workers |
01JUN20 |
01SEP12 |
01APR12 |
01JUN20 |
Table B: Dates of Filing
The USCIS is using the Table B Dates of Filing chart for I-485employment-based filings. See: USCIS Visa Bulletin Dates
MU Law Analysis
Therehave been reports that India EB1 and EB2 are now “unavailable” throughOctober 1, 2022. However, there has beenno specific announcement from the DOS that visas are unavailable. USCIS has stated (in court filings) that theUSCIS expects retrogression in India EB2 in the coming months due tohigh demand.
Oncevisas become unavailable on Chart A, USCIS will be unable to approve any moregreen card cases (I-485) in those specific categories. All I-485s will remain pending until the applicablepriority date becomes current again on Chart A. However, while cases are retrogressed, those with a pending I-485 arestill eligible for AC21 portability and can renew their I-485-based EAD (workauthorization) and Advance Parole (travel authorization).
EB-3 Other Workers, which is thecategory for occupations that require less than two years of education orexperience to perform the job, remains retrogressed but did move forward fromMay 2019 to June 2020 for Philippines and ROW.