February 2022 Visa Bulletin

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.

Visa Bulletin Summary

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 January 1, 2013. What is also encouraging is that, on the dates for filing chart (i.e., Chart B), the cutoff date for India moves ahead to September 1, 2013. Although the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has not yet indicated 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 March 1, 2019. The category remains current for all other countries 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 January 15, 2012, while EB3 China still has a March 22, 2018 cutoff date. The EB3 category remains current for all other countries of chargeability.

EB3 Other Workers

With the exception of China, the cutoff dates for EB3 other workers are the same for each country as its respective EB3 cutoff dates. For China, the cutoff date for EB3 other workers advances to April 1, 2012.

Employment-Based, Fourth Preference (EB4) Category

There is no movement from last month in the EB4 category. Note that the EB4 program for certain religious workers is currently scheduled to expire on February 18, 2022. If Congress does not extend the program by that date, the EB4 category for certain religious workers will become unavailable.

Employment-Based, Fifth Preference (EB5) Category

For non-regional center cases, all countries, including China, are current. For regional center cases, EB5 is unavailable because the program has expired.

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 November 22, 2015. For all other countries, the category would be current.

Conclusion

MurthyDotCom will continue to closely monitor and report on movement and predictions related to the monthly visa bulletin. Subscribe to the free MurthyBulletin to have weekly updates sent to your inbox.

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