On September 24, 2020, the Department of State released the October 2020 Visa Bulletin. The October Visa Bulletin included advancement in all employment-based immigrant visa categories. EB3 visas will become current for all countries except India and China, which will see modest advancement. The cutoff dates for issuance of employment-based immigrant visas in October are outlined below:
- EB-1: All countries other than China and India remain current. The cutoff date for China and India will advance three months to June 1, 2018.
- EB-2: All countries other than China and India will remain current. The cutoff date for China will advance six weeks to March 1, 2016. The cutoff date for India will advance almost two months to September 1, 2009.
- EB-3: All countries other than China and India will become current. The cutoff date for China will advance four and a half months to July 1, 2017. The cutoff date for India will advance three and a half months to January 15, 2020.
Of major importance to individuals in the United States, on September 24, 2020, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services indicated that it would use the “Dates for Filing” from the October visa bulletin to determine eligibility for filing for adjustment of status. This is a change from September 2020, when USCIS used the “Final Action Dates” for determining eligibility for filing adjustment of status applications.
Accordingly, individuals in the United States awaiting an opportunity to file employment-based adjustment of status applications will benefit from rapid advancement in the October 2020 Visa Bulletin’s “Dates for Filing”. The cutoff dates for filing employment-based adjustment of status applications are outlined below:
- EB-1: All countries other than China and India remain current. The cutoff date for filing adjustment of status for India and China will advance one and a half years to September 1, 2020.
- EB-2: All countries other than China and India remain current. The cutoff date for filing adjustment of status for China will advance eight and a half months to October 1, 2020. The cutoff date for filing adjustment of status for India will advance almost two years to May 15, 2011.
- EB-3: All countries other than China and India will become current. The cutoff date for filing adjustment of status for China will advance almost a year and a half to June 1, 2018. The cutoff date for filing adjustment of status for India will advance more than five years to January 1, 2015.
Due to the drastic advancements in eligibility to file adjustment of status in the EB-3 category for Indian-born applicants, Indian-born EB-2 beneficiaries may benefit from “downgrading” their EB-2 petition to EB-3. This may allow Indian-born applicant to take advantage of the more preferable EB-3 filing dates, and allow for filing of an application to adjust status sooner than under the EB-2 category.
