The Department of State released the July 2022 visa bulletin. The visa bulletin summarizes the availability of immigrant visas both for consular processing and adjustment of status applications to be filled in July. The State Department releases both the Final Action Dates and Date of Filing Application for Employment-Based and Family-Based immigrant visas. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) confirmed which chart Applicants must use to file their Adjustment of Status Application (AOS). Below is the breakdown of the movements in the July 2022 visa bulletin.
Employment-Based Cases
The State Department’s July visa bulletin for the Final Action for Employment-Based (EB) preference cases shows little to no movement except for Indian nationals in the EB-2 preference group. The Final Action Dates for Indian nationals in the EB-2 category advanced by three months, from September 1, 2014, to December 1, 2014. The advancement of a few months shows many Indian nationals are using the available EB-2 visas. For Chinese citizens under the EB-2 preference category, the dates advanced by one month to April 1, 2019. For all other countries under the EB-2 category, the dates continue to be current. In the EB-3 Professional/Skilled Workers preference category, all countries, including India and China, saw no movement. EB-3 India remains at January 15, 2012, while EB-3 China holds at March 22, 2018. The EB-1 remains current for all countries, including India and China. USCIS has confirmed applicants must use Final Action dates to file AOS in July. The lack of movement in the July 2022 visa bulletin in the EB-3 category shows there may not be any advancement for the rest of the fiscal year. While for EB-2 India we may say a few months advancement in the August and September 2022 visa bulletins. In the Date of Filing Chart, we see little to no movement. EB-2 China and India each advanced one month to May 1, 2019, and January 1, 2015, respectively.
Family-Based Cases
The Final Action Date chart for Family-Sponsored cases remains unchanged for the most part. The movement we do see is Mexican nationals in all the categories. For Spouses and Children of Permanent Residents, a visa continues to be immediately available, and the dates are listed as current for all countries. U.S. embassies and consulates continue to work to clear the backlog created by COVID-19. The State Department is keeping the dates steady to allow the clearance of the backlog. For Mexican nationals, we see below the movement. For Unmarried Sons and Daughters of U.S. Citizens (F1 category), the State Department retrogressed by a little over one month to March 15, 2000. The Unmarried Sons and Daughters (F2B category) advanced by two months to April 1, 2001. For Married Sons and Daughters of U.S. Citizens (F3 category), the dates advanced by one month to October 15, 1997. Lastly, for Brothers and Sisters of Adult U.S. Citizens (F4 category), the dates advanced three months to June 1, 2000.
In July 2022, USCIS is using the Date of Filing Chart to accept Family-Based AOS applications. Using the Date of Filing Chart by USCIS is to encourage applicants to that are in the United States to take advantage of the lack of movement in the processing of Family-Based visas abroad.
If you have questions regarding filing an Adjustment of Status Application, please feel free to contact us. We put our extensive experience and expertise to work for you to ensure you get the right advice.
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