USCIS Sets October 2021 Adjustment of Status Filing Charts For the Visa Bulletin

Link: https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/green-card-processes-and-procedures/visa-availability-priority-dates/when-to-file-your-adjustment-of-status-application-for-family-sponsored-or-employment-based-69

Pasricha & Patel

Following the U.S. Department of State’s recent publication of the October 2021 Visa Bulletin (which is the first month of the new Fiscal Year 2022), 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 October 2021 Visa Bulletin.

Because the F2A category remains ‘Current’ on the Final Action Dates Chart for Family-sponsored preference cases, this means that applicants in the F2A category (spouses and children of permanent residents) will continue to follow the Final Action Dates chart for October 2021, and this applies to all nationalities once again.

Interestingly, for employment-based visa applicants, the USCIS will begin to follow the Dates for Filing for Employment-based Adjustment of Status Applications chart for the month of October 2021.

Of further interest is that unlike the earlier months’ relatively rapid advancements in the employment-based 3rd visa preference category for India and China, the October 2021 visa bulletin shows only slight movement in that category for both countries.

To be clear, the October 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 July 8, 2012 in the October 2021 visa bulletin. In contrast, in the September 2021 visa bulletin, USCIS followed the Final Action Dates for Employment-based Adjustment of Status Applications, with visa available up to September 1, 2011 for India.

Meanwhile, EB-2 China visa preference category moved ahead from July 1, 2018 in the September 2021 visa bulletin to September 1, 2018 in the October 2021 visa bulletin.

As for EB-3 India, the visa availability date remained basically the same: in the September 2021 visa bulletin, EB-3 India’s visa availability date was January 1, 2014. And in the October 2021 visa bulletin, the date only moved slightly to January 8, 2014.

As for EB-3 China, the visa date also advanced slightly: from January 8, 2019 for the September 2021 visa bulletin (for Professional Workers), to January 15, 2019 (for Professional Workers). And it also advanced from February 1, 2010 to May 1, 2010 for Other Workers in the September 2021 visa bulletin.

Of further interest in this October 2021 visa bulletin is the U.S. Department of States’ projections for visa advancements in the coming months (usually covering the 1st quarter of fiscal year 2022): EB-2 for China and India is expected to move up to several months. EB-3 for China and India is expected to retrogress as early as November 2021. Even EB-3 for Worldwide may experience final action date as early as November 2021.

This signals that the EB-3 visa number usage is starting to meet available visa numbers on hand. One can guess that this may have been due to a combination of factors: increase demand due to EB-2 to EB-3 downgrade requests of I-140 petition filings, as well as family-based immigrant visas starting to become available again as U.S. consulates start to accept more immigrant visa appointments.

Applicants in those particular visa categories would do well to plan ahead, should applicants think their own visa priority dates become current/available in the coming months.

With the recent movements in the visa bulletin dates becoming less predictable, 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.