Visa Bulletin for January 2022 Advancements in EB-2 India and China
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This morning, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) released the January 2022 Visa Bulletin. There is very little movement in January from the December 2021 visa bulletin.
In the coming days, USCIS is expected to announce on its own Visa Bulletin site page the cutoff dates for acceptance of adjustment of status applications next month. That declaration will explain whether USCIS will accept adjustment applications based on the Final Action dates chart, or on the Dates for Filing chart, as it did the month before. The Dates for Filing chart in the January Visa Bulletin 2022 remains the same as last month.
Expired EB-5 Regional Center program
The EB-5 Regional Center program expired on 30th June 2021 and is therefore listed as “unavailable” in the Jan 2022 Visa Bulletin predictions. Immigrant visa issuance and adjustment of status adjudications under this category stopped after the close of business on June 30. USCIS has given guidance on its treatment of regional center-affiliated filings in the wake of the expiration. Also, advocacy efforts to support reauthorization are ongoing.
January 2022 Visa Bulletin Summary
According to the State Department’s Visa Bulletin January 2022 predictions, final action cutoff dates for the issuance of an immigrant visa will be as follows:
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 8th July 2012. EB2 China moves up to 22nd January 2019. Moreover, the EB2 category stays current for any remaining nations of chargeability.
Employment-Based, Third Preference (EB3) Category
There is no development in the EB3 category. The cutoff date for EB3 India remains stuck at 15th January 2012, while EB3 China still has a 22nd March 2018 cutoff date. The EB3 category stays 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 nation as its respective EB3 cutoff dates. Also, for China, the cutoff date for EB3 different workers stays unchanged at 1st March 2012.
Employment-Based, Fourth Preference (EB4) Category
There is no development from last month in the EB4 category. Note that, in passing a continuing resolution, Congress extended the EB4 program for certain religious workers through 18th February 2022.
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.
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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.
Conclusion
Moreover, we will continue to closely monitor and report on development and predictions related to the monthly visa bulletin.
