USCIS Sets November 2021 Adjustment of Status Filing Charts For the Visa Bulletin
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Pasricha & Patel
Following the U.S. Department of State’s publication of the November 2021 Visa Bulletin, the USCIS has once again confirmed that it will continue to follow the Dates for Filing for Family-Sponsored Adjustment of Status Applications for the November 2021 Visa Bulletin.
Because the F2A category remains ‘Current’ on the Final Action Dates Chart for Family-Sponsored Adjustment of Status Applications preference cases, this means that applicants in the F2A category (spouses and children of permanent residents) should continue to follow the Final Action Dates chart for November 2021, and this applies to all nationalities once again
And continuing the precedent started in October 2021, for employment-based visa applicants, the USCIS will still follow the Dates for Filing for Employment-based Adjustment of Status Applications chart for the month of November 2021.
As previously forecasted by Charlie Oppenheim of the U.S. Department of State, the employment-based 3rd visa preference category for India and China in the month of November 2021 visa bulletin will retrogress for both countries as it is the direct result of heavy demand for EB-3 visa numbers in the adjustment of status applications filed with the USCIS this past year.
It should be noted that the November 2021 EB-1 visa preference category continues to remain Current for both China and India, along with all other countries.
However, for EB-2 India, the visa filing date moved to January 8, 2013 in the November 2021 visa bulletin. In contrast, in the October 2021 visa bulletin, the visa filing date for EB-2 India was July 8, 2012. So, that is quite a substantial forward movement there.
Meanwhile, EB-2 China visa filing date also moved ahead from September 1, 2018 to February 1, 2019 in the November 2021 visa bulletin.
This is in line with the projection that the Department of State had provided in October 2021 in which it forecasted that EB-2 visa filing dates would move ahead in months.
But for EB-3 India, the visa filing date retrogressed back to January 22, 2012 in the November 2021 visa bulletin. This is a drastic retrogression because in October 2021, the visa filing date for EB-3 India is January 8, 2014.
As for EB-3 China, the visa filing date also experienced substantial retrogression: from January 15, 2019 to April 1, 2018 in the November 2021 visa bulletin. The EB-3 China Other Worker visa preference category remained the same on May 1, 2010.
With retrogression in EB-3 India and China visa preference categories set for November 2021 visa bulletin, it is likely that the visa filing dates for this particular category may remain stagnant for the foreseeable future.
Applicants in those particular visa categories who may have filed for EB-2 to EB-3 visa preference category downgrade with the USCIS, but they most likely would have retained their initial EB-2 I-140 approvals. They would do well to keep an eye out for the EB-2 visa preference category and its movements in the coming months because it is likely that EB-2 may become current/available much faster than EB-3 visa preference category after all.
With the recent fluctuations in the visa bulletin filing dates, we do encourage readers to continue to check back with our site for any updates regarding this and any other latest immigration news and developments.
Should you wish to discuss your case matter further, we encourage you to contact our office and schedule an appointment so we can assist you further.