The Department of State (DOS) has issued its August 2023 Visa Bulletin, which indicates movement (some forward and some significantly backward) across most employment and family-based categories.  That said, the priority date for EB-3 worldwide (not including China and India) continues to retrogress due to high demand under this category, and, most notably, the EB-1 category for India has retrogressed by over ten years to January 1, 2012 (I wonder if this was a typo?!). 

Family-based final action dates have mixed movement. In the F-1 and F-3 categories, the priority date for nationals of all countries except for Mexico and Philippines has moved forward by a couple of weeks.  The F-2A category continues to retrogress significantly for all nationalities, including Mexico and the Philippines, while the F-2B and F-4 categories remain the same. 

Employment-based Movement
The EB-1 category has established a cut-off date of August 1, 2023, for nationals of all countries except for China and India, which have different backlogs. Unfortunately, the priority date for EB-1 India has experienced a significant ten-year and one-month retrogression.  The priority date for EB-1 China remains the same.

The EB-2 category continues to have a modest  backlog for most countries (not including China and India). The government will work on EB-2 cases with a priority date of April 1, 2022. The priority date for EB-2 India remains the same as last month while the priority date for EB-2 China has advanced by a month.

The EB-3 category has retrogressed for nationals of all countries (other than India and China, which have different priority dates) by 21 months, with a priority date of May 1, 2020. The priority date for EB-3 India remains the same while EB-3 China moves forward by two months.

Here’s a chart for ease of reference:

Family-based Movement

Family-based final action dates have mixed movement. In the F-1 and F-3 categories, the priority date for nationals of all countries except for Mexico and Philippines has moved forward by a couple of weeks.  The F-2A category continues to retrogress significantly for all nationalities, including Mexico and the Philippines, while the F-2B and F-4 categories remain the same.

By way of reminder, the categories are:

• F-1 category:  unmarried sons and daughters of U.S. citizens

• F2-A category: spouses and children under 21 of lawful permanent residents

• F2-B category: unmarried adult children (over 21) of lawful permanent residents

• F-3 category:  married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens

• F-4 category:  siblings of U.S. citizens

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 later 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 2023, USCIS has confirmed the Final Action Dates (above) should be used for employment-based categories. 

For family-based categories, the Dates for Filing (chart below) should be used.

If the priority date for your family-based category is before the date listed above and you are in the United States, you may file your application to adjust status along with the applications for employment authorization and travel permission (assuming you have no bars to admissibility) with USCIS in August. 

The entire visa bulletin is available on the State Department’s website, which includes information on the diversity visa lottery and the EB-5 priority dates. 

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.