October 2022 Visa Bulletin

This evening, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) released the October 2022 Visa Bulletin. This is the first visa bulletin for fiscal year 2023. 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

As predicted, the cutoff date for EB2 India retrogresses in October. The cutoff date will be set at April 1, 2012. For EB2 China, the cutoff date, advances to June 8, 2019. The EB2 category remains current for all other countries of chargeability.

Employment-Based, Third Preference (EB3) Category

EB3 India’s cutoff date advances to April 1, 2012, meaning that it now shares the same cutoff date as its EB2 counterpart. The cutoff date for EB3 China moves ahead to June 15, 2018. The EB3 category remains current for all other countries of chargeability.

EB3 Other Workers

The cutoff date for EB3 other workers for India is the same as its EB3 cutoff date. For China, the cutoff date for EB3 other workers moves up to September 1, 2012. For all other countries of chargeability, the cutoff date for EB3 other workers is set at June 1, 2020.

Employment-Based, Fourth Preference (EB4) Category

The EB4 cutoff date for El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras is set at March 15, 2018, while the cutoff date for EB4 Mexico advances to September 15, 2020. The EB4 category remains current for all other countries of chargeability.

Note that the EB4 program for certain religious workers is currently scheduled to expire after September 30, 2022. If Congress does not extend the program by that date, the EB4 category for certain religious workers will be unavailable.

Employment-Based, Fifth Preference (EB5) Category

China’s cutoff date for EB5 unreserved (i.e., EB5 immigrant visa numbers not set aside for rural, high unemployment, and infrastructure projects,) retrogresses to March 22, 2015. Meanwhile, India’s EB5 unreserved cutoff date retrogresses to November 8, 2019. EB5 remains current for all other EB5 categories and countries of chargeability.

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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