Visa Bulletin For February 2022
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The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has released the February 2022 Visa Bulletin. The most notable movement is in the employment-based, second preference (EB2) category for foreign nationals born in India. All cutoff dates listed refer to the dates in the final action chart (i.e., Chart A) unless otherwise specified.
Employment-Based Priority Date Cutoffs for February 2022
To be eligible to file an employment-based adjustment application in February, employer-sponsored foreign nationals should have a priority date that is earlier than the date listed below for their preference category and country.
February 2022 Visa Bulletin Summary
USCIS has again chosen the Dates for Filing chart for employment-based applications.
Employment-Based, First Preference (EB1) Category
The EB1 category remains current for all countries of chargeability.
Employment-Based, Second Preference (EB2) Category
The cutoff date for the EB2 category for India advances to 1st January 2013. What is also encouraging is that, on the dates for the filing chart (i.e., Chart B), the cutoff date for India moves ahead to 1st September 2013. Although the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has not yet shown whether Chart B can be used for purposes of applying for adjustment of status in February, it at least implies that the cutoff date for EB2 India likely will continue to move ahead in the coming months.
For China, the cutoff date for EB2 advances to 1st March 2019. The category remains current for any remaining nations of chargeability.
Employment-Based, Third Preference (EB3) Category
For the fourth month in a row, there is no movement in the EB3 category. The cutoff date for EB3 India remains unchanged, at 15th January 2012, while EB3 China still has a 22nd March 2018 cutoff date. The EB3 category remains current for any remaining nations of chargeability.
EB3 Other Workers
Except for China, the cutoff dates for EB3 other workers are the same for every country as its respective EB3 cutoff dates. For China, the cutoff date for EB3 different workers advances to 1st April 2012.
Employment-Based, Fourth Preference (EB4) Category
There is no movement from last month in the EB4 category. Note that the EB4 program for specific religious workers is currently scheduled to expire on 18th February 2022. If Congress doesn’t expand the program by that date, the EB4 category for specific religious workers will become unavailable.
Employment-Based, Fifth Preference (EB5) Category
For non-regional center cases, all nations, including China, are current. For regional center cases, EB5 is unavailable because the program has expired.
[H-1B denial rates for new application drops to 4% in fiscal 2021]
If Congress renews the regional center program, the EB5 China cutoff date for both regional center and non-regional center cases would go back to 22nd November 2015. For any remaining nations, the category would be current.
Additional Information:
Moreover, USCIS has confirmed that it will use Dates for Filing for family-based applicants, except for F2A category candidates, who may use Final Action Dates.
Conclusion
Also, we will closely monitor and report on movement and predictions related to the February visa bulletin 2022.
