iThe U.S. State Department released the May Visa Bulletin on Tuesday, showing no advancement in key employment-based categories. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that in May it will use Final Action Dates to determine filing eligibility.
Final Action Dates Movement:
EB-1
- China EB-1 will remain at Sept. 1, 2022.
- India EB-1 will remain at March 1, 2021.
- All other countries under EB-1 will remain current.
EB-2
- China EB-2 will remain at Feb. 1, 2020.
- India EB-2 will remain at April 15, 2012.
- All other countries under EB-2 will remain at Jan. 15, 2023.
EB-3
- China EB-3 will remain at Sept. 1, 2020.
- India EB-3 will remain at Aug. 15, 2012.
- All other countries under EB-3 will remain at Nov. 22, 2022.
Final Action Dates for Employment-Based Preference Cases:
| Preference | All Other Countries | China | India | Mexico | Philippines |
| EB-1 | Current | Sept. 1, 2022 | March 1, 2021 | Current | Current |
| EB-2 | Jan. 15, 2023 | Feb. 1, 2020 | April 15, 2012 | Jan. 15, 2023 | Jan. 15, 2023 |
| EB-3 | Nov. 22, 2022 | Sept. 1, 2020 | Aug. 15, 2012 | Nov. 22, 2022 | Nov. 22, 2022 |
Additional Information: May will mark the third straight month that USCIS will use Final Action Dates to determine employment-based filing eligibility. The agency will continue to use Dates for Filing to determine family-based eligibility. May’s lack of movement was expected: The State Department noted in the April Visa Bulletin for employment-based categories, “Very little to no forward movement is expected in the coming months since the final action dates for many categories advanced for April 2024.” They also cautioned that the “final action date projections” indicate what is “likely to happen throughout Quarter Three and Quarter Four of FY24” and that readers “should never assume that recent trends in final action date movements are guaranteed for the future, or that retrogressions will not be required at some point to maintain number use within the applicable annual limits.”
