AUGUST 2023 VISA BULLETIN: NO MORE VISAS

The Department of State just issued the August 2023 Visa Bulletin. This blog post analyzes this month's Visa Bulletin.

Visa Bulletin

Table A: Final Action Dates -- Applications with these dates may be approved for their Green Card (Permanent Residency card) or Immigrant Visa appointment.

Employment- based	All Other	CHINA- mainland  born	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
1st	01AUG23	01FEB22	01JAN12	01AUG23	01AUG23
2nd	01APR22	08JUL19	01JAN11	01APR22	01APR22
3rd	01MAY20	01JUN19	01JAN09	01MAY20	01MAY20

USCIS

The USCIS is expected to use Table A: Final Action Dates chart for I-485 employment-based filings. A Beneficiary must be current on the above Table A chart to file their I-485, Adjustment of Status applications. See: USCIS Visa Bulletin Dates

MU Law Analysis

As we explained last month, the DOS has almost exhausted all employment-based visas for FY 2023.  As a result, almost all categories retrogressed will retrogress even further in August, essentially ending visa issuance until the start of the next fiscal year on October 1, 2023.  There were some slight improvements in the Chinese dates probably reflecting strained US-Chinese relations and decreased demand related to COVID in the 2019-2022 time frame.

These EB-3 retrogressions mean that the USCIS and DOS overextended priority dates earlier in the year and did not see the demand for the visa numbers that were there.

The Visa Bulletin includes a Note about EB-3s, indicating that the demand exceeded the expectation.  Accordingly, MU does not expect any progression in EB-3 for the rest of the fiscal year.

Even the EB-1 dates were retrogressed, including the Indian date by 10 years.  The Visa Bulletin does say that the Indian EB-1 dates should return to at least February 2022 at the start of the next fiscal year.