U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) has released the May 2021 Visa Bulletin. The bulletin USCIS has released notifies applicants if they are able to submit their I-485, Adjustment of Status Application next month. To be eligible to file an employment-based adjustment application in May, foreign nationals must have a priority date that is earlier than the date listed below for their preference category and country.

Employment-Based Applications

USCIS has again chosen the Final Action Dates chart for employment-based applications.

  1. Employment-Based, First Preference (EB1) Category: The EB-1 category remains current for all countries of chargeability including India and China.
  2. Employment-Based, Second Preference (EB2) Category: The cutoff date for EB2 India has advanced from May 1, 2010, to August 1, 2010. EB2 China moves ahead to December 1, 2016.  The EB2 category remains current for all other countries of chargeability.
  3. Employment-Based, Third Preference (EB3) Category: The cutoff date for EB2 India has moved from September 1, 2010, in April 2021 to February 1, 2011, in the May 2021, visa bulletin. For China, the date has advanced to March 15, 2018.
  4. Employment-Based, Certain Religious Workers Category: This category remains current for the majority of the countries including India and China. The cutoff date for El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras has advanced to September 1, 2018, while for Mexico it has advanced to March 15, 2019.

Family-Based Applications

USCIS has again chosen the Dates for Filing chart for family-based applications except F21 applicants may file using the Final Action Dates chart which is current for countries of chargeability.

Charlie Oppenheim, Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division of the U.S. Department of State will be holding his monthly “Chats with Charlie” on April 22, 2021, to discuss the May Visa Bulletin and prediction for the rest of the FY 2021. We will provide a prompt update then.

ILBSG will continue to monitor and report predictions and movements related to the monthly visa bulletin. If you have any questions regarding your priority date, please reach out to an ILBSG attorney today.

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