March 2023 Visa Bulletin

The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has released the March 2023 Visa Bulletin. There is very little movement in the employment-based categories from the previous month. Worse still, in the visa bulletin, the DOS cautions that higher-than-expected demand in several categories may force additional retrogression in the near future. 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

Yet again, there is no movement in the EB2 category. The cutoff date for EB2 India remains 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.

Due to high demand in the EB2 category, the DOS indicates that it may need to take “corrective action in the coming month.” Even if there is no retrogression, this at least implies that the cutoff dates are unlikely to advance much in the near-term.

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 at August 1, 2018. The EB3 category remains current for all other countries of chargeability.

Due to increased demand in the EB3 category, the DOS states that it may need to impose a cutoff date in this category for all countries of chargeability.

EB3 Other Workers

China’s cutoff date for EB3 other workers advances to July 1, 2014. There is no other movement in this category, with India retaining a cutoff date of June 15, 2012, while all other countries keep a cutoff date of January 1, 2020.

Employment-Based, Fourth Preference (EB4) Category

The EB4 cutoff date for El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras remains at March 15, 2018. The cutoff date for EB4 Mexico retrogresses a bit to August 1, 2020. For all other countries of chargeability, the EB4 cutoff date retrogresses to February 1, 2022.

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) advances to July 8, 2015. Meanwhile, higher-than-expected demand in the EB5 unreserved category for India results in further retrogression, taking it to a cutoff date of June 1, 2018. 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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