Visa Bulletin for October 2022

What the State Department said

Scheduled expiration of employment fourth preference (SR) religious workers category

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022, enacted on March 15, 2022, extended the Employment Fourth Preference Certain Religious Workers (SR) category until September 30, 2022. No SR visas may be issued overseas, or final action taken on adjustment of status cases, after midnight September 29, 2022. Visas issued prior to that date will be valid only until September 29, 2022, and all individuals seeking admission in the non-minister special immigrant category must be admitted (repeat admitted) into the United States no later than midnight September 29, 2022.

The SR category is listed as “Unavailable” for all countries for October. If there is legislative action extending the category, it will become available effective immediately and will be subject to the same final action dates as the other Employment Fourth Preference categories per applicable foreign state of chargeability.

Retrogression of China-mainland born final action date and imposition of India final action date in the employment-based fifth preference unreserved categories (including c5, t5, i5, and r5)

It was necessary to retrogress the final action date for the China-mainland born Employment-Based Fifth Preference unreserved categories due to heavy demand for numbers, primarily for visa issuances abroad. In addition, sufficient India demand has materialized in the Employment-Based Fifth Preference unreserved categories to require the imposition of a final action date for October. Heavy China-mainland born and India demand along with lower visa number availability for FY-2023 as compared to FY-2021 and FY-2022 has made these corrective actions necessary to keep number use within the maximum allowed under the FY-2023 annual limits. The situation will be continually monitored, and any necessary adjustments made accordingly.

Retrogression of India employment second preference (e2) final action and application filing dates for october

Rapid forward movements of the India E2 final action and application filing dates during FY-2022 were made to maximize number use under the unprecedented high employment limit of 281,507. As a result, heavy applicant demand has materialized and coupled with significantly lower visa number availability for India E2 for FY-2023 as compared to FY-2022, corrective action was required to keep number use within the maximum allowed under the FY-2023 annual limits. The situation will be continually monitored, and any necessary adjustments made accordingly.

Visa availability in the employment fourth category

High demand in the Employment Fourth category may necessitate the establishment of a worldwide final action date in the coming months to hold number use within the maximum allowed under the Fiscal Year 2023 annual limit. This situation will be continually monitored, and any necessary adjustments will be made accordingly.