January 2020 Visa Bulletin Released

The Department of State (DOS) has issued its January 2020 Visa Bulletin. Overall, most employment categories will have modest forward movement.  Employment-based category 1 (“EB-1) for most nationals advances by two and a half months while for Chinese nationals it moves forward by seven days. There is no change for Indian nationals in the EB-1 category. 

For the EB-2 category, immigrant visas are available for most nationals.  However, for Chinese nationals, the priority date advances by eight days while for Indian nationals the priority date moves forward by only three days. 

Lastly, for the EB-3 category, immigrant visas are available  for most nationals. However, for Chinese nationals the priority date moves forward by one month and, for nationals of the Philippines, the priority date advances by 15 days.  There is no change in priority date for Indian nationals in January.

 Here’s a chart for ease of reference:

WHAT DATES IN THE VISA BULLETIN SHOULD YOU USE FOR FILING YOUR ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS APPLICATION WITH USCIS?

If USCIS determines that there are more immigrant visas available for a fiscal year than there are known applicants for such visas, then USCIS will state here that you may use the Dates for Filing Visa Applications chart in the Department of State Visa Bulletin, which usually has dates earlier than the Final Action Dates noted above. Otherwise, USCIS will indicate on its website that you must use the Application Final Action Dates chart (above) to determine when you may file your adjustment of status application in the United States. 

For January 2020, USCIS has not yet announced which  dates to use. It makes this announcement here.

The entire visa bulletin can be found here, which includes priority dates for family-based categories and the diversity visa lottery. 

If you would like more information on how to understand the monthly visa bulletin, please check out our blog post here.