February 2023 Visa Bulletin

The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has released the February 2023 Visa Bulletin. There is almost no movement in the employment-based categories from the previous month. 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

EB1 China and India both remain with a cutoff date of February 1, 2022. The category remains current for all countries of chargeability.

Employment-Based, Second Preference (EB2) Category

Once again, there is no movement in the EB2 category. The cutoff date for EB2 India remains set at October 8, 2011, while EB2 China still has a cutoff date of June 8, 2019. For all other countries of chargeability, the EB2 cutoff date is November 1, 2022.

Employment-Based, Third Preference (EB3) Category

The EB3 category also sees no change from last month’s visa bulletin. EB3 India keeps a cutoff date of June 15, 2012. The cutoff date for EB3 China remains August 1, 2018. The EB3 category remains current for all other countries of chargeability.

EB3 Other Workers

China’s cutoff date for EB3 other workers remains at December 22, 2013. For India, the cutoff date is still June 15, 2012. For all other countries of chargeability, the cutoff date for EB3 other workers retrogresses to January 1, 2020.

Employment-Based, Fourth Preference (EB4) Category

The most significant news regarding the EB4 category is that the program for certain religious workers was extended by Congress through September 30, 2023. Other than that, there is no movement in the EB4 category. The EB4 cutoff date for El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras remains set at March 15, 2018. The cutoff date for EB4 Mexico keeps its September 15, 2020, cutoff date. For all other countries of chargeability, the EB4 cutoff date remains unchanged at June 22, 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. 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 have weekly updates sent to your inbox.

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