The Department of State (DOS) has issued its August 2020 Visa Bulletin. We will now be covering both employment-based and family-based priority dates as detailed below.  

Employment-based movement:  Overall, most employment categories will have modest forward movement.  One category with a significant nine-month advancement is employment-based category 1 (“EB-1”) for Indian nationals.  Otherwise, the employment-based categories 1 and 2 for most nationals remain current.  

For the EB-1 category, immigrant visas continue to be available for most nationals.  The priority date for EB-1 advances by six months for Chinese nationals and by nine months for Indian nationals.

For the EB-2 category, immigrant visas also continue to be available for most nationals.  The priority date for Chinese nationals advances by two months while for Indian nationals the priority date remains the same from last month.

Finally, for the EB-3 category, there will be a 12-month advancement from the month of July for most nationals.  The priority date moves forward by eight months for Chinese nationals and advances four months for Indian nationals. 

Here’s a chart for ease of reference:

Family-based Movement:  Overall, most family-based categories will have slight forward movement.

For the F-1 category, which is for unmarried sons and daughters of U.S. citizens, priority dates advance by one month for most nationals. The priority date for Mexican nationals advances by two weeks and advances by three months for nationals of the Philippines. 

For the F2-A category, which is for spouses and children under 21 of lawful permanent residents, immigrant visas continue to be available for all nationals. 

For the F2-B category, which is for unmarried adult children (over 21) of lawful permanent residents, priority dates advance by seven weeks for most nationals. The priority date for Mexican nationals advances by two weeks and moves forward three months of nationals of the Philippines

For the F-3 category, which is for married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens, there will be a three-week advancement from the month of July for most nationals.  The priority date moves forward by one week for Mexican nationals and advances three months for nationals of the Philippines.

Finally, for the F-4 category, which is for siblings of U.S. citizens, there will be a little over two-week advancement for most nationals. The priority date moves forward three months for nationals of the Philippines. 

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 August 2020, USCIS has confirmed the Final Action Dates (above) chart should be used for all employment-based categories.

For family-based categories, USCIS has announced that F2A applicants may file using the Final Action Dates chart (above). Applicants in all other family-sponsored preference categories must use the Dates for Filing chart provided below.

The entire visa bulletin is available on the State Department’s website, 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 on this topic.

This alert is for informational purposes only.  Please contact us if you would like to discuss these developments further.