The September 2023 Visa Bulletin has been released by the U.S. Department of State and shows little movement from last month.
Quick Hits
- The EB-2 final action date for all countries except China and India will advance by three months, to July 1, 2022.
- The EB-3 final action date for China will advance by three months, to September 1, 2019.
- All other employment-based final action dates remain unchanged.
EB-1: Employment-Based, First Preference Category
Despite significant changes in the August 2023 Visa Bulletin for the EB-1 category, all EB-1 categories and dates remain unchanged in the September bulletin. Mexico, Philippines, and all chargeability categories remain at Aug. 1, 2023; EB-1 India remains at Jan. 1, 2012; and EB-1 China remains at Feb. 1, 2022.
EB-2: Employment-Based, Second Preference Category
In the EB-2 Category, Mexico, Philippines, and all chargeability categories advance three months to July 1, 2022. There is no change in the dates for EB-2 India and China, which remain set for Jan. 1, 2011, and July 8, 2019, respectively.
EB-3: Employment-Based, Third Preference Category
The only movement in the EB-3 category in this bulletin is China’s cutoff which advances slightly by three months to Sept. 1, 2019. All other EB-3 cutoffs remain the same. EB-3 India remains set for Jan. 1, 2009, and the cutoff date of May 1, 2020, is retained by Mexico, Philippines, and all chargeability categories.
EB-5: Employment-Based, Fifth Preference Category
There is no change to the Final Action Dates for all nationalities in the EB-5 category for September.
The Dates of Filing of Employment-Based Visa Applications are:
The DOS Visa Bulletin summarizes the availability of immigrant numbers and releases Dates of Filing Applications and Final Action Dates charts monthly for both employment-based and family-based immigrant visas. USCIS confirms which chart applicants must use to file their Adjustment of Status Application. For September 2023, USCIS announced it will only accept adjustment of status applications based on the Final Action Dates chart for all employment-based preference categories, while all family-sponsored preference categories may use the Dates for Filing chart.
Next Steps
More significant changes are expected in the October 2023 Visa Bulletin, when new annual visa allocations become available for FY 2024.
