December 2022 Visa Bulletin

Today, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) released the December 2022 Visa Bulletin. The most notable change in the latest visa bulletin is additional retrogression in the employment-based, second preference (EB2) category. All cutoff dates listed refer to those 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. However, the DOS cautions that, in the coming months, an EB1 cutoff date may become necessary for India and China.

Employment-Based, Second Preference (EB2) Category

The EB2 India category retrogresses further, moving back to an October 8, 2011 cutoff date. For China, EB2 remains at June 8, 2019. A cutoff date of November 1, 2022 is set in the EB2 category for all other countries of chargeability.

Employment-Based, Third Preference (EB3) Category

EB3 India’s cutoff date advances to June 15, 2012, once again leaving it with a more favorable cutoff date than its EB2 counterpart. The cutoff date for EB3 China moves up to August 1, 2018. The EB3 category remains current for all other countries of chargeability.

EB3 Other Workers

The cutoff date for EB3 other workers for China is set at June 22, 2013. For India, the cutoff date moves ahead to June 15, 2012. For all other countries of chargeability, the cutoff date for EB3 other workers remains set at June 1, 2020.

Employment-Based, Fourth Preference (EB4) Category

The EB4 cutoff date for El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras remains set at March 15, 2018, while the cutoff date for EB4 Mexico is unchanged at September 15, 2020. For all other countries of chargeability, a cutoff date of June 22, 2022, is established in the EB4 category.

Note that the EB4 program for certain religious workers is currently scheduled to expire after December 15, 2022. If Congress does not extend the program by that date, the EB4 category for certain religious workers will be unavailable, effective December 16, 2022.

Employment-Based, Fifth Preference (EB5) Category

There is no movement in the 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), remains set at March 22, 2015. Meanwhile, India’s EB5 unreserved cutoff date stays put at 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 receive weekly updates.

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