During our May and June webinars Charlie predicted many of the retrogressions which have occurred for August’s visa bulletin update. Below we will summarize the August Visa Bulletin for both Employment-Based and Family-Based schedules.
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Employment-Based
A Final Action Date has been imposed on the ROW EB-1 preference. The 01AUG23 date imposed for All Chargeability (Rest of World) EB-1 Final Action Date is essentially the same as the category being Current, and it would not be surprising if Department of State establishes a 01SEP23 date for September.
The All Chargeability EB-2 Final Action Date advanced which is a positive sign, but the forward movement is not enough to provide any encouragement for the future availability of “Otherwise Unused” numbers becoming available for use by India EB-2 applicants.
The fact that the All Chargeability EB-3 date has retrogressed for the third time in four months is a troubling sign for visa availability during FY 2024, and this situation will need to be watched carefully.
Both the China EB-2 and EB-3 Final Action and Application Filing Dates have advanced which is a very good sign. We have concerns regarding a potential retrogression of the China EB-1 date for September. The reason being the establishment of the ROW EB-1 date, which means the category is approaching the Worldwide annual EB-1 limit, and the China date is dependent upon the availability of “Otherwise Unused” numbers (see India EB-1 note below).
As predicted the India EB-1 date retrogressed. The 01JAN12 date means that as of August 1st numbers in the India EB-1 category will be “Unavailable” through September, and that final action date could potentially be imposed at any time for any cases still being processed during July. The India EB-1 date should be able to return to 01FEB22 for October, when the new supply of FY 2024 numbers become available.
Family-Based
The retrogression of the All Chargeability (Rest of World) F2A Final Action Date to 08OCT17 effectively means that as of August 1st numbers in the F2A category are “Unavailable” through the end of the fiscal year, and that final action date could potentially be imposed at any time for any cases still being processed during July.
There is still some concern for a potential retrogression of the All Chargeability F2B date for September. But the fact that it hasn’t happened yet, despite repeated warnings, could be seen as a positive sign.
Both the All Chargeability F1 and F3 Final Action and Application Filing Dates have advanced which is a very good sign. This indicates that the “backlog” of pending cases which had developed as a result of COVID processing delays have been eliminated.
