The Department of State released the March 2022 visa bulletin. The visa bulletin summarizes the availability of immigrant visas both for consular processing and adjustment of status applications filed in the U.S. during March 2022. The State Department releases both the Final Action Dates and Date of Filing Application for Employment-Based and Family-Based immigrant visas.

In an unprecedented move, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) confirmed Applicants must use the Date of Filing Chart to file Adjustment of Status (AOS) applications within the United States. USCIS usually takes a couple of days to confirm which chart applicants may utilize to file an AOS application. However, the slow movement we see in the March 2022 visa bulletin made the choice for USCIS easier. Thus, we have quick confirmation. Below is the breakdown of the March 2022 Visa Bulletin.

Employment-Based Cases

The Final Action Dates chart for Employment-Based cases has little to no movement. The significant and welcome movement we see is in the EB-2 category for Indian nationals. The dates moved from January 1, 2013, in the February visa bulletin to May 1, 2013. This movement of four months is great news for those applicants who have pending AOS and are waiting to interfile or transfer the underlying basis of their application from EB-3 to EB-2. The other big change we see in the March 2022 Final Action Dates chart is the unavailability of immigrant visas for the Employment Fourth Preference Certain Religious Workers (SR) category. The SR category is unavailable for all countries for March since the extension passed by Congress for this category expires on February 18, 2022. The rest of the categories have stayed the same in March 2022 visa bulletin as the February visa bulletin.

For the Date of Filing chart for Employment-Based cases again we see no movement. There is no movement in EB-1, EB-2, or EB-3 categories for all countries including India and China. There is a movement for Certain Religious workers from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras from June 15, 2017, to May 15, 2019. The lack of movement in the Date of Filing chart may be an indication USCIS may continue to use Date of Filing to accept AOS applications.

Family-Based Cases

In the Final Action Date chart for Family-Sponsored cases, we see no movement from February to March 2022 visa bulletin. All the dates have stayed the same. This indicates consular processing cases abroad are still delayed and not back to the pre-pandemic era. We are still seeing consular offices not issuing as many visas thus the dates are stagnant.

For the Date of Filing for Family-Sponsored cases, there is slight movement in some categories while the rest remains largely the same as February 2022 visa bulletin. Across the board, for all countries in the F2A category (spouses and children of Permanent Residents), it moved two months from October 1, 2021, to December 1, 2021. The rest of the movement is seen for Mexican nationals. For Mexican nationals in F1 (Unmarried Sons and Daughters of U.S. Citizens) category advanced from February 1, 2001, to April 1, 2001. For the F2B (Unmarried Sons and Daughters (21 years of age or older) of Permanent Residents) category the dates advanced from April 1, 2001, to March 1, 2001. In the F3 (Married Sons and Daughters of U.S. Citizens) category the dates advanced by five months from October 8, 2000, to March 1, 2001. While in the F4(Brothers and Sisters of Adult U.S. Citizens) category the dates advanced from August 22, 1999, to September 1, 2000, a one-year advancement.

ILBSG continues to monitor and report predictions and movements related to the monthly visa bulletin. If you have questions regarding your priority date, please feel free to contact us at any time. We put our extensive experience and expertise to work for you to ensure you get the right advice.

March 2022 Visa Bulletin Visa Bulletin