October Visa Bulletin Advances Considerably for Employment-Based Beneficiaries
The U.S. Dept. of State (DOS) just released the October 2020 Visa Bulletin, which confirmed a significant advancement in the “Dates for Filing” chart and a smaller forward movement in the “Final Action Dates” chart.
Upon DOS’s release of the October Visa Bulletin, USCIS initially announced that the “Final Action Date” chart must be used to determine eligibility for I-485 filing, but soon after, it reversed course and announced that the more favorable “Dates For Filing” chart will be used for accepting I-485s in October.
The considerable forward movement of the “Dates For Filing” combined with USCIS’s decision to accept I-485 filings based on the “Dates for Filing” chart (USCIS had consistently required use of the less favorable “Final Action Dates” chart in recent months) is resulting in large number of applicants becoming eligible to file I-485s in October. For EB2 India, beneficiaries need a priority date (PD) earlier than July 8, 2009 to file I-485 in September, but in October, those with a PD earlier than May 15, 2011 will be eligible. For EB3 India, the difference is even greater – October 1, 2009 (to file in September) versus January 1, 2015 (to file in October).
For China-born beneficiaries, an EB2 PD earlier than January 15, 2016 is required to file in September, and in October, those with a PD earlier than October 1, 2016 will be eligible. EB3 China is advancing more aggressively - February 15, 2017 (to file in September) versus June 1, 2018 (to file in October).
EB1 for India and China also advanced significantly - March 1, 2018 (in September) versus September 1, 2020 (in October). Finally, EB3 for all countries besides India and China are eligible to file I-485 in October regardless of PD.
How You Can Help
The October VB is resulting in a sharp surge of eligible I-485 applicants and all ILG clients who are newly eligible have been identified. If you are a newly eligible beneficiaries, rest assured that you will receive ILG’s case initiation email by Friday, October 2nd (please do not contact ILG before October 3rd), and ILG will file your I-485 by October 30th. Your patience and refrain from calls and emails will enable us to expedite case initiation and case processing.
EB3 “Downgrade”
With EB3 becoming significantly more favorable than EB2 for India and China, many EB2 beneficiaries will benefit from filing another I-140 to gain EB3 classification and be eligible to file their I-485 in October. If you have a PD that is not current under EB2, but would be current in October under EB3, and you wish to file a second I-140 to gain EB3 classification and concurrently file your I-485, please reach out to your ILG attorney for further information.