The Department of State released the August 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 August 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). USCIS has confirmed they will be accepting Employment-Based cases based on the Final Action Date chart and for Family-Based, they are accepting based on the Date of Filing Chart. Below, we break down the movement seen in the August 2023 visa bulletin.

 

Employment-Based Cases

In the employment-based first preference category (EB-1), we see the longest retrogression for India. The Department of State retrogresses the dates for EB-1 India by more than ten years to January 1, 2012. The demand for Indian nationals under EB-1 forced the Department of State to set the dates that far back. The agency clued us in about this retrogression in the May 2023 Visa Bulletin. The question this retrogression raises is whether the dates will become current at the start of the 2024 fiscal year on October 1, 2023. The agency notes in the October 2023 Visa Bulletin, we may see the Final Action Date for EB-1 India will return to at least the date in the July 2023 Visa Bulletin, which is February 1, 2022. This estimation and the dates in October will depend on demand for EB-1, as well as the FY 2024 annual limit on employment-based immigrant visas. The EB-1 Final Action date for all other countries except China will have a cutoff date of August 1, 2023. The EB-1 China Final Action Date will remain at February 1, 2022.

In the EB-2 category, we see a small glimmer of movement for the rest of the world and China. For the rest of the world, the Final Action Dates advance by six weeks to April 1, 2022. The Final Action Dates for China advance to July 8, 2019. For India, the dates remain unchanged from July 2023 Visa Bulletin at January 1, 2011.

In the EB-3 Professional/Skilled Worker category, we continue to see retrogression. For the rest of the world excluding India and China, the Final Action Dates retrogress by close to two years to May 1, 2020. The Final Action Date for EB-3 China Professional/Skilled Worker will advance by two months, to June 1, 2019, while EB-3 India will remain at January 1, 2009. The State Department will continue to monitor and adjust the dates based on the number of visas available and the demand. They note further retrogression may come in the upcoming visa bulletins.

 

Family-Based Cases

In the Family-Based categories, continuing with the trend of Employment-Based charts, we see retrogression along with some advancements in the August 2023 visa bulletin, as summarized below.

Under the F-1 category (unmarried children (age 21 and older) of U.S. citizens), the Final Action date for China, India, and Worldwide advances almost three weeks to January 1, 2015. For Mexican nationals, the dates remain unchanged at April 22, 2001. Lastly, for the Philippines, the dates remain at March 1, 2012.

In the F-2A Family-Based category (Spouses and Unmarried Children (Under Age 21) for China, India, and the Rest of the World, the Final Action Dates retrogress by almost three years to October 8, 2017. Again, in this category for Mexican nationals the dates retrogressed by over two years to September 1, 2016. For Philippines nationals, the dates retrogress almost three years to October 18, 2017. The next movement we see in the August 2023 Visa Bulletin is in the F-3 category (married children of U.S. citizens). The dates for China, India, and the Rest of the World advance by six months to January 8, 2009. The dates for Mexico and the Philippines remain the same at January 15, 1998, and June 8, 2002, respectively. The rest of the dates and categories remain unchanged.

As was the case previously, in July 2023, USCIS will accept Family-Based the “Dates for Filing” remain 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. 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.

August 2023 Visa Bulletin Visa Bulletin