Visa Bulletin For March 2023
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The March 2023 Visa Bulletin has been released by the US Department of State (DOS). The employment-based categories show very little change from the previous month. Worse still, the DOS warns in the visa bulletin that additional retrogression may be required shortly if demand in several categories is higher than expected. Unless otherwise noted, the cutoff dates are taken from the final action chart (Chart A).
March Visa Bulletin 2023 Summary
According to March Visa Bulletin 2023, the employment-based Dates for Filing – which will determine whether an adjustment of status application can be filed with USCIS in March – will be as follows:
Employment-Based, First Preference (EB1) Category
EB1 China and India remain the same, with a cutoff date of 1st February 2022. The category remains current for all chargeability nations.
Employment-Based, Second Preference (EB2) Category
Once more, there is no movement in the EB2 category. The cutoff date for EB2 India remains 8th October 2011, while the cutoff date for EB2 China remains 8th June 2019. For all other countries of chargeability, the EB2 cutoff date is 1st November 2022.
The DOS states that it may need to take “corrective action in the coming month” because of the high demand in the EB2 category. This at least suggests that the cutoff dates are unlikely to advance significantly shortly, even if there is no retrogression.
Employment-Based, Third Preference (EB3) Category
The visa bulletin from last month also makes no changes to the EB3 category. The cutoff date for EB3 India remains 15th June 2012. The EB3 China cutoff date remains August 1, 2018. For all other countries with chargeability, the EB3 category remains current.
The DOS says that it may need to set a cutoff date for all countries with chargeability in the EB3 category because of increased demand.
EB3 Other Workers
The cutoff date for EB3 other workers in China moves up to 1st July 2014. With India retaining a cutoff date of 15th June 2012, and all other nations maintaining a cutoff date of 1st January 2020, there is no other movement in this category.
[DHS Announces New Process for Noncitizen Workers to Participate in Labor Investigations]
Employment-Based, Fourth Preference (EB4) Category
The EB4 cutoff date for El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras remains on 15th March 2018. The cutoff date for EB4 Mexico has been pushed back to 1st August 2020. Also, the EB4 cutoff date retrogresses to 1st February 2022 for all other chargeable nations.
Employment-Based, Fifth Preference (EB5) Category
China extends the cutoff date for EB5 unreserved, or the number of EB5 immigrant visas not reserved for rural, high unemployment, or infrastructure projects, to 8th July 2015. In the meantime, India’s higher-than-expected demand in the EB5 unreserved category pushes back the cutoff date to 1st June 2018. All other EB5 categories and chargeability countries remain current.
Conclusion
Moreover, we will keep an eye on the monthly visa bulletin’s movement and predictions and provide regular updates.
