Department of State June 2023 Visa Bulletin Summary

The Department of State has released the June 2023 Visa Bulletin. D&S provides a Monthly Summary of the employment-based priority dates. In June 2023, USCIS will accept employment-based adjustment of status applications based on the Final Action Dates For Employment-Based Preference chart. To be eligible to file an adjustment of status application in June 2023, foreign nationals must have a priority date that is earlier than that listed on the Final Action Dates chart. 

With respect to Final Action Dates, EB-1 China and India will maintain their Final Action cutoff date of February 1, 2022. All other EB-1 categories will remain current. For the EB-2 categories, India will maintain its Final Action cutoff date of January 1, 2011 and China will maintain its Final Action cutoff date of June 8, 2019. All other EB-2 Final Action cutoff dates will remain February 15, 2022. The Final Action cutoff date for EB-3 China Professional/Skilled Worker Final Action date will remain April 1, 2019 and the EB-3 India Professional/Skilled Worker Final Action date will remain June 15, 2012. The Final Action Dates for all EB-4 will remain September 1, 2018 for all countries. In addition, the Final Action date for the EB-5 Unreserved categories, China will remain September 8, 2015 while India Final Action will retrogress to April 1, 2017. All other countries will remain current. The EB-5 “Set-Aside” categories (Rural, High unemployment, and Infrastructure) will remain current for all countries. 

Department of State May 2023 Visa Bulletin Summary

The Department of State has released the May 2023 Visa Bulletin. D&S provides a Monthly Summary of the employment-based priority dates. In May 2023, USCIS will accept employment-based adjustment of status applications based on the Final Action Dates For Employment-Based Preference chart. To be eligible to file an adjustment of status application in May 2023, foreign nationals must have a priority date that is earlier than that listed on the Final Action Dates chart. 

With respect to Final Action Dates, EB-1 China and India will maintain their Final Action cutoff date of February 1, 2022. All other EB-1 categories will remain current. The Department of States notes that increased demand and use in EB-1 will most likely result in the retrogression in the Final Action Dates for China and India in the coming months. For the EB-2 categories, India will maintain its Final Action cutoff date of January 1, 2011 and China will maintain its Final Action cutoff date of June 8, 2019. All other EB-2 Final Action cutoff dates will retrogress by four and a half months to February 15, 2022. The Final Action cutoff date for EB-3 China Professional/Skilled Worker Final Action date will advance by five months to April 1, 2019 while the EB-3 India Professional/Skilled Worker Final Action date will remain June 15, 2012. The Final Action Dates for all EB-4 will remain September 1, 2018 for all countries. In addition, the Final Action date for the EB-5 Unreserved categories, China will advance to September 8, 2015 while India Final Action cut off date will remain at June 1, 2018. All other countries will remain current. The EB-5 “Set-Aside” categories (Rural, High unemployment, and Infrastructure) will remain current for all countries. 

Department of State Increasing Consular Fees Effective May 30, 2023

The Department of State (DOS) has published a final rule raising several nonimmigrant visa application processing fees. The new fees, which will become effective May 30, 2023, are as follows:

• The application processing fee for H, L, O, P, Q, and R visas will be raised from $190 to $205;

• The fee for nonimmigrant visas under the E visa category (E-1, E-2, E-3) will be raised from $205 to $315;

• The application processing fee for other non-petition based nonimmigrant visas (e.g., B-1, B-2 and F-1) visas will be raised from $160 to $185.

Department of State April 2023 Visa Bulletin Summary

The Department of State has released the April 2023 Visa Bulletin. D&S provides a Monthly Summary of the employment-based priority dates. In April 2023, USCIS will return to accepting adjustment of status applications based on the Visa Bulletin Final Action Dates chart, rather than the Dates for Filing chart that it had been using the past few months. The Department of State is no longer including a separate column covering applications in El Salvador, Guatemala, or Honduras. Final action dates and filing dates for these countries are now included in the “All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed” column. 

With respect to Final Action Dates, EB-1 China and India will maintain their Final Action cutoff date of February 1, 2022. All other EB-1 categories will remain current. For the EB-2 categories, India will retrogress by eight months, to January 1, 2011 while China will remain at June 8, 2019. All other countries will retrogress by four months, to July 1, 2022. With respect to the EB-3 Professional and Skilled Workers category, China will advance by 3 months to November 1, 2018, India will remain at June 15, 2012, and all other countries will remain current. The demand in the EB-4 category has continued to grow, which has required the USCIS to even further push back priority dates for all countries in this category. In addition, for the Final Action date for the EB-5 Unreserved categories, China will remain at July 8, 2015 and India will remain at June 1, 2018. EB-5 Final Action dates will remain current for all other countries and EB-5 “Set Aside” categories.

As with the employment-based cases, we are seeing retrogression in family-based cases. For the spouses and children of the Permanent Residents (F2A) category, all countries will have a final action cutoff date set to September 8, 2020, besides Mexico, which will have a final action cutoff date set to November 1, 2018.

State Department Announces Pilot Program for State-Side Visa Renewals

In an effort to address ongoing backlogs and long wait times for visa interviews at some U.S. consular posts outside the United States, including the ongoing significant backlogs at Mission India, the U.S. Department of State announced in an interview with Bloomberg Law, that it will be launching a pilot program later this year offering certain nonimmigrant visa holders the option to renew their visa stamp from within the United States, a process known as “Stateside Visa Revalidation”, which was discontinued in 2004.

While individuals are currently required to travel abroad to renew visa stamps, the pilot program would permit certain H and L visa holders to revalidate their visas from within the United States. While the State Department has yet to release many details about the rollout of the pilot program, they indicated that it could be expanded to other visa categories in the future and is expected to provide additional relief to certain consular posts that continue to experience high demand and continued backlogs following the COVID-19 pandemic.

USCIS Extends Green Card Validity for CPRs with Pending I-751 or I-829 by 48 Months

This week, USCIS announced that it would extend the validity of conditional lawful permanent resident cards for petitioners with timely filed I-751 petitions and I-829 petitions for 48 months beyond the card’s expiration date. This change started on January 11, 2023 for I-829 petitions and will start on January 25, 2023 for I-751 petitions.

USCIS stated that these changes are being made to accommodate protracted processing times for these benefit requests and that it has updated the language in I-751 and I-829 petition receipt notices to extend the validity of these expired green cards by 48 months.

The agency will issue new receipt notices to eligible conditional permanent residents who previously received notices with an extension period shorter than 48 months and whose cases are still pending. These notices can be presented along with an expired green card as evidence of continued status while their case remains pending with USCIS.

Effective January 25th USCIS to Bundle Adjudication of Dependent H and L Extensions with Principal Petition

As part of an agreement to settle a class action law suit challenging H-4 and L-2 adjudication delays, USCIS agreed to bundle adjudication of H-4 and L-2 dependent applications and any associated applications for I-765 employment authorization documents, so long as they are filed concurrently with the principal underlying I-129 petition. The bundling will apply to cases filed under both regular and premium processing, will take effect on January 25, 2023, and will be in effect for 2 years.

State Department February 2023 Visa Bulletin Summary

The Department of State has released the February 2023 Visa Bulletin. D&S provides a Monthly Summary of the employment-based priority dates. Most of the employment and family-based categories will remain the same in February as they did in January, including EB-1, EB-2, EB-3, EB-4, and EB-5 categories worldwide and for India and China. However, EB-3 Other Workers countries, with the exception of India and China, will retrogress to January 1, 2020 for Final Action and to February 1, 2020 for Application Filing Dates. 

With respect to Final Action Dates, EB-1 China and India will maintain their Final Action cutoff date of February 1, 2022. All other EB-1 categories remain current. All EB-2 and EB-3 categories remain unchanged. All EB-3 Other Workers countries (except for India and China) will retrogress to January 1, 2020 for Final Action. In addition, for the Final Action date for the EB-5 Unreserved categories, the China and India cutoff dates will remain at March 22, 2015 and November 8, 2019, respectively. EB-5 Final Action dates will remain current for all other countries and EB-5 “Set Aside” categories.

With respect to Application Filing Dates, the Dates for Filing chart for February shows no change in cutoff dates for employment-based categories, with the exception of the worldwide EB-3 Other Workers retrogression. Specifically, the Application Filing Dates for all countries, with the exception of India and China, will retrogress by more than two and a half years to February 1, 2020. USCIS has announced that for February 2023 all family-based and employment-based preference categories must use the Application Filing Dates chart.

USCIS Announces Further Expansion of Premium Processing for EB-1C Manager/Executive or EB-2 NIW Petitions

UPDATE:

Beginning January 30, 2023, USCIS will accept Form I-907 requests premium processing for:

• All pending EB-1C multinational Manager/Executive petitions and EB-2 NIW petitions; and

• All initial EB-1C multinational Manager/Executive petitions and EB-2 NIW petitions.

USCIS also confirmed that expanded premium processing for Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status is being implemented via a “phased approach” and will be announced later in the year.

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May 24, 2022

USCIS has announced it is implementing premium processing for certain previously filed EB-1C Multinational Manager/Executive and EB-2 National Interest Waiver (NIW) petitions. The premium processing expansion will take effect in phases and will not yet be available for new EB-1C Multinational Manager/Executive or EB-2 NIW petitions, as detailed below:

Beginning June 1, 2022

• The USCIS will accept premium processing requests for EB-1C Manager/Executive petitions received on or before January 1, 2021.

Beginning July 1, 2022

• The USCIS will accept premium processing requests for EB-2 NIW petitions received on or before June 1, 2021.

• In addition, the USCIS will accept premium processing requests for EB-1C Manager/Executive petitions received on or before March 1, 2021.

This effort comes after the USCIS announced new plans to reduce backlogs and expand premium processing. As previously indicated, premium processing for Form I-140 under the EB-1C Manager/Executive or EB-2 NIW categories will require a fee of $2,500 and will have an adjudication time of 45 days. More information on which categories are eligible for premium processing can be found here. 

New National Defense Bill Contains Changes to E and H-2B Visas

This month, Congress passed the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022 (NDAA) which contains 2 provisions impacting employment-based nonimmigrant visas.

First, the NDAA has made two important changes to the E visa category by (1) designating Portugal as a qualifying treaty country; and (2) requiring individuals who have obtained citizenship through investment to have been domiciled in that country for a continuous period of no less than 3 years before they are eligible to apply for an E visa based on holding treaty country nationality. This second provision does not apply to individuals who have previously been granted E status. Rather, it is expected that this new provision will limit use of "Citizenship by Investment" programs of countries, such as Grenada, that have enabled investors who acquire treaty country citizenship in a treaty in order to obtain E nonimmigrant visas to provide them access to the United States while stuck in green card backlogs.

Second, the NDAA extends eligibility for certain H-2B workers to be admitted to perform services in Guam and the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) for an additional year, through December 31, 2024

USCIS Issues Policy Alert on Extension of Permanent Resident Card for Individuals with Pending Applications for Naturalization

This month the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) issued a Policy Alert announcing that, effective December 12, 2022, Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs) with pending N-400 Applications for Naturalization no long need to file for extensions of their Permanent Resident Card (“Green Card”) as presenting an N-400 receipt notice will automatically extend the validity of their Green Card for 24 months past their expiration date.

USCIS is in the process of updating language on its Form N-400 receipt Notice of Action (Form I-797) to include an automatic extension of Green Cards for 24 months from the “Card Expires” date listed on the PRC and updating the related policy.

State Department January 2023 Visa Bulletin Summary

The Department of State has released the January 2023 Visa Bulletin. D&S provides a Monthly Summary of the employment-based priority dates. The most notable change in the latest visa bulletin is additional retrogression in the employment-based, second preference (EB-2) category. USCIS has announced that, in January 2023, applicants will be able to file employment-based adjustment of status applications based on the Final Action Dates chart and family-based applicants will be able to file according to the Dates of Filing Chart.

With respect to Final Action Dates, as anticipated, EB-1 China and India will both retrogress to February 1, 2022. All other EB-1 categories remain current. All EB-2 and EB-3 categories remain unchanged. EB-3 Other Workers moved ahead 6 months to December 22, 2013. In addition, for the Final Action date for the EB-5 Unreserved categories, China and India will remain at March 22, 2015 and November 8, 2019, respectively. EB-5 Final Action dates will remain current for all other countries and EB-5 “Set Aside” categories.

With respect to Application Filing Dates, all EB-1 countries will remain current. EB-2 China’s Date for Filing will remain unchanged at July 8, 2019 and EB-2 India’s Date for Filing will remain unchanged at May 1, 2012. All other Date for Filing remain unchanged from December.

State Department December 2022 Visa Bulletin Summary

The Department of State has released the December 2022 Visa Bulletin. D&S provides a Monthly Summary of the employment-based priority dates. The most notable change in the latest visa bulletin is additional retrogression in the employment-based, second preference (EB-2) category across all preference categories.

With respect to Final Action Dates, all EB-1 categories will remain current for all preference categories. However, EB-1 India and EB-1 China are likely to retrogress in the coming months. The EB-2 category will retrogress for most countries. Specifically, India will retrogress by more than six months to October 8, 2011. China will remain unchanged at June 8, 2019 and all other countries will retrogress to November 1, 2022. EB-3 India’s Final Action Date will advance to June 15, 2022 and China will advance by six weeks to August 1, 2018. All other countries will remain current. In addition, for the Final Action date for the EB-5 Unreserved categories, China and India will remain at March 22, 2015 and November 8, 2019, respectively. EB-5 Final Action dates will remain current for all other countries and EB-5 “Set Aside” categories.

With respect to Application Filing Dates, all EB-1 countries will remain current. EB-2 China’s Date for Filing will remain unchanged at July 8, 2019 and EB-2 India’s Date for Filing will remain unchanged at May 1, 2012. EB-3 China’s Date for Filing will advance to September 1, 2018 and EB-3 India’s Date for Filing will advance to August 1, 2012. For December, USCIS has indicated that it will use the Dates of Filing chart for both family-based and employment-based preference categories.

State Department November 2022 Visa Bulletin Summary

The Department of State has released the November 2022 Visa Bulletin. D&S provides a Monthly Summary of the employment-based priority dates. In October, USCIS will continue to accept adjustment of status applications based on the Dates for Filing Chart, rather than the Final Action Dates Chart. 

With respect to Final Action Dates, all EB-1 categories will remain current for all preference categories. With the exception of China and India, all other EB-2 countries of chargeability will remain current. China and India will remain at June 8, 2019 and April 1, 2012, respectively.  All EB-3 categories except India and China will remain current. EB-3 China’s Final Action Date will remain at June 15, 2018 and EB-3 India’s Final Action Date will remain at April 1, 2012. In addition, for the Final Action date for the EB-5 Unreserved categories, China and India will remain at March 22, 2015 and November 8, 2019. EB-5 Final Action dates will remain current for all other countries and EB-5 “Set Aside” categories.

With respect to Application Filing Dates, all EB-1 countries will remain current. EB-2 China’s Date for Filing will remain at July 8, 2019 and EB-2 India’s Date for Filing will remain at May 1, 2012. EB-3 China’s Date for Filing will remain at July 15, 2018 and EB-3 India’s Date for Filing will remain at July 1, 2012.

In addition, the USCIS added a note to the November 2022 Visa Bulletin regarding the employment second category and its current demand, stating “Increased demand in the Employment Second category may necessitate the establishment of a worldwide final action date in the coming months to hold number use within the maximum under the Fiscal Year 2023 annual limit.” The USCIS indicated the situation will be continually monitored, and any necessary adjustments will be made accordingly.

USCIS Announces Premium Processing for Certain Previously Filed EB-1C Manager/Executive or EB-2 NIW Petitions (Copy)

UPDATED! USCIS has announced it is implementing premium processing for certain previously filed EB-1C Multinational Manager/Executive and EB-2 National Interest Waiver (NIW) petitions. The premium processing expansion will take effect in phases and will not yet be available for new EB-1C Multinational Manager/Executive or EB-2 NIW petitions, as detailed below:

Beginning June 1, 2022

• The USCIS will accept premium processing requests for EB-1C Manager/Executive petitions received on or before January 1, 2021.

Beginning July 1, 2022

• The USCIS will accept premium processing requests for EB-2 NIW petitions received on or before June 1, 2021.

• In addition, the USCIS will accept premium processing requests for EB-1C Manager/Executive petitions received on or before March 1, 2021.

UPDATE: Beginning September 15, 2022

• The USCIS will accept premium processing requests for EB-1C Manager/Executive petitions received on or before January 1, 2022.

• The USCIS will accept premium processing requests for EB-2 NIW petitions received on or before February 1, 2022.

This effort comes after the USCIS announced new plans to reduce backlogs and expand premium processing. As previously indicated, premium processing for Form I-140 under the EB-1C Manager/Executive or EB-2 NIW categories will require a fee of $2,500 and will have an adjudication time of 45 days. More information on which categories are eligible for premium processing can be found here. 

D&S will continue to closely monitor the roll out and expansion of premium processing services and will provide further guidance as it becomes available.

State Department October 2022 Visa Bulletin Summary

The Department of State has released the October 2022 Visa Bulletin. D&S provides a Monthly Summary of the employment-based priority dates. In October, USCIS will be accepting adjustment of status applications based on the Dates for Filing Chart, rather than the Final Action Dates Chart. 

With respect to Final Action Dates, all EB-1 categories will remain current for all preference categories. With the exception of China and India, all other EB-2 countries of chargeability will remain current. Notably, EB-2 India’s Final Action Date has retrogressed more than 2 years to April 1, 2012. DOS reported that rapid forward movements of the EB-2 India Final Action and Date for Filing Application dates were implemented in FY2022 in order to fill the maximum number of visas available, which increased applicant demand and resulted in the large retrogression in India EB-2. In contrast, EB-2 China’s Final Action Date advanced by 2 months to July 8, 2019. 

All EB-3 categories except India and China will remain current. EB-3 China’s Final Action Date advanced to July 15, 2018, while EB-3 India’s Final Action Date advanced to July 1, 2012. Furthermore, the Final Action date for the EB-5 China Unreserved categories retrogressed by nine months, to March 22, 2015, and a Final Action cut-off date of November 8, 2019 will be imposed on the previously current EB-5 Unreserved category for India. EB-5 Final Action dates will remain current for all other countries.

With respect to Application Filing Dates, EB-2 China’s Date for Filing advanced by 2 months to July 8, 2019 and EB-3 China’s Date for Filing advanced by nearly 2 months to July 15, 2018. It appears that USCIS has used nearly all available employment-based immigrant visas for this fiscal year. The State Department is expected to make an official announcement in the coming days.

State Department September 2022 Visa Bulletin Summary

The Department of State has released the September Visa Bulletin. D&S provides a Monthly Summary of the employment-based priority dates. USCIS has yet to confirm whether, in September 2022, it will accept adjustment of status applications for family- and employment-based petitions based on Dates for Filing or Final Action Dates. 

With respect to Final Action Dates, all EB-1 categories will remain current. With the exception of India and China, all other EB-2 countries of chargeability will remain current. EB-2 China will remain the same with a Final Action Date of April 1, 2019, and EB-2 India will remain the same with a Final Action Date of December 1, 2014. All EB-3 categories except India and China will remain current. EB-3 China will remain at April 22, 2018, and EB-3 India will remain at February 15, 2012. 

The Department of State has resumed processing visa applications based on approved EB-5 Preference Regional Center petitions that were filed with USCIS on or before June 30, 2021. The EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 is now in effect and has created two pools of visa numbers within the EB-5 category. One pool of numbers is ‘reserved’ for certain set-aside categories while the remaining available numbers remain ‘unreserved’. For final action dates, all EB-5 categories remain current except for  EB-5 Unreserved (I5 and R5) China, which has a Final Action Date of  December 22, 2015. 

With respect to Application Filing Dates, all applicable EB categories will remain unchanged except for EB-3 India. EB-5  EB-5 Unreserved (I5 and R5) China will move forward one week to January 1, 2016.

USCIS Expected to End Temporary Flexibility for Responding to Agency Requests After August 25, 2022

In response to business disruptions experienced as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, on March 30, 2020, USCIS announced that the agency would provide a 60-day flexibility period for responding to certain agency requests including Requests for Evidence (RFEs), Notices of Intent to Deny (NOIDs), etc. USCIS has periodically extended this flexibility over the last 2 years of the pandemic.

In their most recent announcement on March 30, 2022, the agency extended this deadline flexibility through August 25, 2022, and indicated that it anticipated this would be the final extension of these flexibilities such that the standard deadlines will apply to RFE issued after August 25th. As such, practitioners are advised to plan accordingly in terms of responding to impacted agency requests within the time frame mandated on the request for any requests with an issuance date after August 25, 2022.

UPDATE: on July 25, 2022 USCIS announced that it would, in fact, extend the agency’s flexibility for responding to certain agency quests through October 23, 2022