US Department of State Publishes October 2019 Visa Bulletin, and USCIS Designates Which Petitions they will start to accept
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Link: https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Bulletins/visabulletin_october2019.pdf
Pasricha & Patel Takeaways:
Upon the publication of the October 2019 Visa Bulletin by the U.S. Department of State, the USCIS has quickly announced that with regards to the October 2019 Visa Bulletin, filers for Family-Sponsored Filings must follow the Dates for Filing Chart for October 2019 visa bulletin (note: the F2A Spouse and Children of Permanent Resident will continue to follow the Final Action Dates chart for Family-Sponsored Visa Applications).
And as for the filers in the Employment-based Filings, interestingly, the USCIS has announced that applicants must follow the “Dates for Filing of Employment-based Visa Applications” for the October 2019 visa bulletin. In the past few years, the USCIS has usually asked petitioners to follow the “Final Action Dates for Employment-Based Preference Cases”. So, this is definitely a change in direction.
USCIS customarily makes these announcements a few days after the publication of the monthly visa bulletin. It is possible that after reviewing its own internal case load, the USCIS has decided that it could manage and handle an expected increase in employment-based adjustment of status cases after all. It is not certain if USCIS will continue to follow this trend in the upcoming visa bulletins. So, we suggest readers to check with our website regularly for any such updates and developments.
In this same October 2019 visa bulletin, the U.S. Department of State also forecasts on the upcoming visa availability in the coming months, and at least through January 2020. It is interesting to see that for the most part, the employment-based categories will not have any significant forward movements.
And should you have any further questions about the different visa preference categories and filing procedures, please do not hesitate to contact our office to schedule a consultation to discuss your concerns further.