The Department of State released the November 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 November 2022. 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) confirms which chart Applicants must use to file their Adjustment of Status Application (AOS). Below, we break down the movement seen in the November 2022 visa bulletin.
Employment-Based Cases
The November Visa bulletin holds the dates we saw in the October Visa bulletin. As USCIS has confirmed in their FAQ, the employment-based annual limit for the fiscal year 2023 is higher than it was pre-pandemic but lower than it was in fiscal years 2021 and 2022. Therefore, we are not seeing movements as we saw in previous years. The Department of State estimates that the FY 2023 employment-based annual limit will be approximately 200,000 immigrant visas, due to unused Family-Based visa numbers from FY 2022 being added to the employment-based limit for FY 2023.
With the projected reduction in the number of employment-based immigrant visas available in the fiscal year 2023, USCIS and the State Department are cooperating to control the allocation on a monthly basis through the Visa Bulletin. This collaboration is taking into consideration numerous factors including, but not limited to, the inventory of adjustment of status applications already pending with USCIS, the projected percentage of applications that will not be approved, and the number of applications for the same individual but in different categories. Therefore, we continue to see the slow and steady movement in November 2022 visa bulletin as we saw in October 2022 visa bulletin.
In the November visa bulletin, the Final Action Date for the EB-1 category stayed current for all countries, including India and China. We see no movement in November visa bulletin from the October visa bulletin in the EB-2 category and in the EB-3 Professional/Skilled Workers preference category. USCIS has confirmed, as expected, that Applicants may use the Dates of Filing Chart to file I-485, Adjustment of Status application, in November 2022. For the EB-2 Category, the cutoff date for Indian nationals is May 1, 2012, while for Chinese nationals, it is July 08, 2019. All other countries are current. In the EB-3 Category, the cutoff date for Indian Nationals if July 1, 2012, and for Chinese nationals, the cutoff date is July 15, 2018. All other countries remain current. These are the same dates we saw in October 2022 visa bulletin.
Family-Based Cases
The Final Action Date chart for Family-Sponsored cases remains unchanged from the October 2022 visa bulletin. For Spouses and Children of Permanent Residents, a visa continues to be immediately available, and the dates are listed as current for all countries. The lack of movement is an indication the 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. In November 2022, USCIS is using the Date of Filing Chart to accept Family-Based AOS applications. Again, the Date of Filing Charts in November 2022 remain steady and similar to the October 2022 visa bulletin for the most part. The movement we see is for Mexican Nationals. For (F1) Unmarried Sons and Daughters of U.S. Citizens the dates advanced from December 1, 2001, to December 1, 2002. In the F2B, Unmarried Sons and Daughters (21 years of age or older) of Permanent Resident, the dates advanced from August 8, 2001, to January 1, 2002. The F3 category for Married Sons and Daughters of U.S. Citizens moved from April 15, 2001, to June 15, 2001. Lastly, in F4 category for Brothers and Sisters of Adult U.S. Citizens advanced from March 15, 2001, to April 1, 2001. All other dates for all other nationals remain the same as the October visa bulletin.
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.