The Department of State released the May 2022 visa bulletin. The visa bulletin summarizes the availability of immigrant visas both for consular processing and adjustment of status applications to be filed in May. The State Department releases both the Final Action Dates and Date of Filing Application for Employment-Based and Family-Based immigrant visas. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) confirms which chart the Applicant must use to file their Adjustment of Status Application (AOS). USCIS has confirmed Applicants must use the Date of Filing chart for Employment-Based and Family-Based AOS filing in May 2022. Below is the breakdown of the movements in the May 2022 visa bulletin.
Employment-Based Cases
USCIS has once again confirmed Applicant must use the Date of Chart to file an AOS application. This is not surprising news, as there is little movement in the dates from the April 2022 visa bulletin to the May 2022 visa bulletin. The lack of movement shows better communication between USCIS and the Department of State to ensure all the visas available in this fiscal year are utilized. The Date for Filing for EB-2 India advances by three months to December 1, 2014. All other Dates for Filing for EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3 Professional/Skilled Workers remain the same as the dates in April 2022 visa bulletin.
Similar to the Date of Filing Chart, we only see movement in EB-2 India for the Final Action Dates chart in May 2022. The Final Action Dates for EB-2 India advanced by little less than two months from July 8, 2013, to September 1, 2013, in the May 2022 visa bulletin. EB-2 for Chinese nationals remains the same, March 1, 2019. EB-3 for Indian nationals continues to hold on January 15, 2012. Worldwide EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3 dates remain current with visas immediately available for these categories.
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022 enacted by Congress on March 14, 2022, has reauthorized visas in EB-5 Immigrant Investor Regional Center Program and Employment Fourth Preference Certain Religious Workers (SR) categories. The EB-5 Final Action Date in the May visa bulletin is therefore effective immediately in April. EB-5 China (Non-Regional Center program) remains current. EB-5 (Regional Center) is current for all countries except China under the “Unreserved” category, which holds a November 22, 2015, final action date. For SR Final Action dates in the May visa bulletin remain current for all countries except El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, which are subject to a May 1, 2017, final action date, and Mexico, which is subject to an April 1, 2020, final action date.
Family-Based Cases
The Final Action Date chart for Family-Sponsored cases is stuck with no movement from the April 2022 visa bulletin to the May 2022 visa bulletin. In all categories for all countries, there is no movement. For Spouses and Children of Permanent Residents, a visa continues to be immediately available, and the dates are listed as current for all countries. We believe this is a direct consequence of the COVID-19 global pandemic. Although U.S. embassies and consulates are open and started processing immigrant petitions, it is going to take some time for them to process cases that have been on hold for approximately two years now. By not moving the Final Action Dates, the State Department removes the bottleneck it may create if the Department advances the dates forward, and more visas are available for use.
For the same reason stated above, there is little movement in the Date of Filing for Family-Sponsored in the May 2022 visa bulletin. The two movements we see are for Mexican nationals in the F2B (Unmarried Sons and Daughters (21 years of age or older) of Permanent Residents) and F4 (Brothers and Sisters of Adult U.S. Citizens) categories. In the F2B category for Mexican Nationals, the dates advanced from April 22, 2001, to May 1, 2001. In the F4 category, the dates advanced from December 22, 2000, to May 1, 2001. All the other dates remain unchanged from the April 2022 visa bulletin.
We continue to monitor and report predictions and movements related to the monthly visa bulletin. If you have questions regarding your priority date, please feel free to contact us. We put our extensive experience and expertise to work for you and are here to help you every step of the way.