The Department of State released the June 2023 visa bulletin. The visa bulletin summarizes the availability of immigrant visas both for consular processing and adjustment of status applications to be filled in June 2023. The State Department releases both the Final Action Dates and Date of Filing Applications for Employment-Based and Family-Based immigrant visas. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) confirms which chart Applicants must use to file their Adjustment of Status Application (AOS). Below, we break down the movement seen in the June 2023 visa bulletin. For June 2023, both employment-based and family-based categories are holding steady, showing no further retrogression, or advancement.

Employment-Based Cases

In June 2023, USCIS continues to accept AOS applications for applicants with a priority date that is earlier than the Final Action Dates chart. For the employment-based first preference category (EB-1), all countries will remain current, except for India and China, with no movement in June. For Indian and Chinese EB-1 Applicants, the cutoff date remains the same as the past couple of months at February 1, 2022. In the May 2023 Visa Bulletin, the State Department noted an increase in the rest of the world’s demand and number of uses in the EB-1 category and warned the increase in demand will cause retrogression in final action dates for China and India. However, we have yet to see the retrogression in June 2023 visa bulletin. We expect to see this in the July 2023 Visa Bulletin.

In the EB-2 category, the dates remain unchanged from May 2023 visa bulletin. We did not see the retrogression forecasted in the May 2023 Visa Bulletin in the June Visa Bulletin. However, we are more likely to this retrogression in the July 2023 Visa Bulletin. The May 2023 visa bulletin notes USCIS and the State Department continue to see increased demand in the EB-2 category, causing further retrogression. For the rest of the world, Mexico, and the Philippines, the cutoff dates remain at February 15, 2022. For India and China, the dates remain the same at June 8, 2019, for Chinese nationals and January 1, 2011, for Indian nationals.

In the EB-3 category, the dates remain unchanged from the dates in May Visa Bulletin. For the rest of the world, Central America, Mexico, and the Philippines the dates remain at June 1, 2022. For Chinese nationals, the cutoff date is April 1, 2019.  For Indian nationals, the dates remain the same as in April 2023 visa bulletin at June 15, 2012. In the June Visa Bulletin, the State Department warns of retrogression in the EB-3 category for Indian nationals. The State Department notes continual use and increasing demand in the EB-3 category for India will likely require them to retrogress the dates as early as next month. This is not a surprising update since the majority of Indian nationals have both EB-2 and EB-3 I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker approvals, and they are forced to transfer the underlying basis of their AOS application to take advantage of the movement in the Visa Bulletin. As the dates in EB-2 retrogress, many had transferred the underlying basis of their AOS application to EB-3. Now, we are seeing the effects of that.

Family-Based Cases

In the June 2023 Visa Bulletin, USCIS will continue to accept AOS applications based on the Date of Filing chart. In the Family-Based categories, we see no movement in the June 2023 visa bulletin. As in the June 2023 visa bulletin, the F-2A Family-Based category (Spouses and Unmarried Children (Under Age 21) of U.S. Green Card Holders) is no longer “current.” All countries except Mexico have the Final Action cutoff date set to September 8, 2020. For Mexico, the Final Action Date cutoff date is set to November 1, 2018. Although the “Final Action Dates” are no longer current, the “Dates for Filing” have remained current for the F-2A category, meaning spouses and unmarried children of U.S. green card holders can still file their green card applications for now. In the June Visa Bulletin, the State Department notes a high and continual number of visas used in the F-2A (Spouses and Children of Permanent Residents) and F-2B (Unmarried Sons and Daughters) categories, therefore they forecast a retrogression in these days may be required for the rest of the rest of the world countries, India, and China to keep the number use within the FY-2023. Despite still being able to file, these cases will NOT be adjudicated until the priority date is current.

We continue 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. We put our extensive experience and expertise to work for you to ensure you get the right advice.

June 2023 Visa Bulletin Visa Bulletin