Visa Bulletin for April 2023

What the State Department said

Employment-based second preference (EB-2) retrogression for rest of world countries, India, Mexico, and Philippines

Item D in the March 2023 Visa Bulletin warned that retrogression in the Employment-Based Second Preference (EB-2) category was likely due to much higher than expected number use and demand since December 2022. The Department and USCIS continue to see high demand from applicants with priority dates earlier than the established final action dates. Therefore, the EB-2 final action dates for Rest of World, India, Mexico, and the Philippines retrogressed to keep number use within the FY 2023 annual limit.

The Rest of World, Mexico, and Philippines EB-2 final action dates retrogressed to 01JUL22 and the India EB-2 final action date retrogressed to 01JAN11. This situation will be continually monitored, and any necessary adjustments will be made accordingly.

Family-sponsored second preference visa availability

Item D in the February 2023 Visa Bulletin warned readers of the possibility of a final action date being established in the F2A category. Number use in the F2A category has remained steady to date in FY-2023 and it has become necessary to establish an F2A final action date to keep number use within the annual limit.

F2A numbers exempt from per-country limits are available to applicants from all countries with priority dates earlier than 01NOV18. F2A numbers subject to per-country limits are available to applicants chargeable to all countries except Mexico, with priority dates beginning 01NOV18 and earlier than 08SEP20. All F2A numbers provided for Mexico are exempt from the per-country limit.

This situation is being continually monitored and any necessary adjustments will be made accordingly.

Further retrogression in EB-4 category for all countries

Based on INA standards and expected demand from these countries for family-sponsored and employment-based preference visas, the Department of State is no longer including a separate column covering applicants chargeable to El Salvador, Guatemala, or Honduras in the charts titled, “Final Action Dates for Employment-Based Preference Cases” and “Dates for Filing of Employment-Based Visa Applications,” for applicants who are seeking an immigrant visa in the EB-4 category. Final action and filing dates for applicants from these three countries are now provided in the column headed “All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed.” The Department has submitted for publication a public notice in the Federal Register to further explain this change.