By: Gurshaan Chattha

The United States State Department has released its September 2021 Visa Bulletin. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will again honor the Final Action Dates chart for employment-based adjustments of status.

The Final Action Dates will advance for many employment-based visa categories in the September 2021 Visa Bulletin:

• EB-1:All countries remain current.
• EB-2: China advances by approximately three months to July 1, 2018. India advances by three months to September 1, 2011. All other countries remain current.
• EB-3 Professional and Skilled Workers: China remains the same on January 8, 2019. India advances one year to January 1, 2014. All other countries remain current.
• EB-3 Other Workers: China advances one month to February 1, 2010. India advances by six months to January 1, 2014. All other countries remain current.
• EB-4: El-Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras each advance three months to March 15, 2019. Mexico advances to March 1, 2020. All other countries remain current.
• EB-4 Religious Workers: El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras advance to March 15, 2019, and Mexico advances to March 1, 2020. All others are current.
• EB-5 Non-Regional (C5, T5): China advances to November 22, 2015. All other countries remain current.

To file for adjustment of status to legal permanent resident, individuals must have a priority date that is earlier than the Final Action cutoff date for their preference category and country.

increased employment-based visas available

The US State Department has increased the number of employment-based green cards available this fiscal year (FY) to 262,288, up from 156,253 last fiscal year. USCIS is working to process adjustment of status applications as quickly as possible before the close of FY 2021. However, there will likely be many unused immigrant visa numbers based on current processing times.

It is expected that there will be even more employment-based visas available in FY 2022. Case processing times would need to improve to make use of all the available visas.

issuance of immigrant visas abroad

Although President Biden rescinded Trump’s presidential proclamation that limited the entry of certain immigrants into the United States, US consulates abroad still face backlogs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Individuals previously impacted by the ban should see movement in their cases but will likely still face delays. These individuals should await instructions from the US consulate that worked on their application.

eb-5 regional center program

The EB-5 Region Center program expired on June 30, 2021. Regional Center filings are on hold until further notice, while Congress negotiates the reinstatement of the program.

Conclusion

For help adjusting status to legal permanent resident, or any other question related to employment-based green cards, please contact your Chugh, LLP legal professional.