Following the release of the July 2021 Visa Bulletin, Charles Oppenheim, Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division of the U.S. Department of State provided his insights. He also added his outlook related to the next visa bulletin and the upcoming fiscal year. The next fiscal year begins in October 2022. During his YouTube Live session, Mr. Oppenheim gives valuable insight into the movement of the visa bulletin. Based on his feedback, we have summarized below his prediction of the Visa Bulletin for the next few months as well as FY2022.

One of the biggest takeaways from Mr. Oppenheim’s Chat is both Employment-Based and Family-Based dates are not expected to retrogress until September 2022 as per the current information available to the Department of State. This is encouraging news for those who have pending I-485, Adjustment of Status Application for EB-2 Employment-Based preference category. Mr. Oppenheim predicts for Indian and China nationals the dates may advance at a rapid pace early in the upcoming fiscal year. The movement for EB-3 Employment-Based preference category is more uncertain since last fall we saw the highest rate of new filings. For the upcoming fiscal year starting October 2022, approximately 290,000 visas are available for Employment-Based cases. That is a spillover of approximately 150,000. This will continue to have a positive impact on the employment-based visas available for India and China.

Although the total number of employment-based green cards available for the fiscal year 2021 was about 262,000, the USCIS has only used about 45,381 in the last six months. This indicates USCIS has yet to even utilize the normal 140,000 visas available for employment-based cases. To avoid wasting the spillover of the additional 122,000 visas, USCIS must approve cases more rapidly starting this month until September 30, 2021. We expect USCIS to try to utilize the available visa therefore, we may see more approvals and Request for Evidence as we move forward through the last quarter of the 2021 fiscal year.

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. We will continue to monitor developments around all immigration-related policies and keep you informed.

eb-3 h-1b immigration July Visa Bulletin July Visa Bulletin Outlook