USCIS announced Friday, September 14th, 2018, that in October 2018 it will accept employment-based and family-based I-485 adjustment of status applications (Form I-485) from foreign nationals with a priority date that is current for “Filing” under the State Department’s October 2018 Visa Bulletin, rather than mandating that the “Final Action” date be current.
Each month the State Department releases the Visa Bulletin, and the Bulletin contains two charts. The first provides “Final Action” dates which are the priority date cutoffs before which green card applicants can be approved for adjustment of status or be issued an immigrant visa stamp by a U.S. Consulate abroad. The second provides “Filing” dates which are the priority date cutoffs before which green card applicants can file for adjustment of status or submit documentation to the National Visa Center in support of their green card applications. However, after the Visa Bulletin is released, USCIS then determines whether it will accept adjustment of status applications in a given month based upon the Filing dates chart, and only very rarely agrees to use those dates for employment-based adjustment of status application. Indeed, the last time USCIS agreed to accept Petitions based on the “Filing” date was November 2016.
From a practical standpoint, this has the most benefit for Indian and Chinese nationals, as well as individuals born in any country seeking to file an adjustment of status application based upon an immigrant petition in the EB-1 category, consisting of individuals of extraordinary ability, outstanding researchers, and multinational managers.
In October 2018, the Final Action dates from the Visa Bulletin are as follows:
| Employment- based |
All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed |
CHINA- mainland born |
INDIA |
| 1st | 01APR17 | 01JUN16 | 01JUN16 |
| 2nd | Current | 01APR15 | 26MAR09 |
| 3rd | Current | 01JUN15 | 01JAN09 |
By contrast, the Filing dates from the Visa Bulletin are as follows:
| Employment- based |
All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed |
CHINA- mainland born |
INDIA |
| 1st | 01JUN18 | 01OCT17 | 01OCT17 |
| 2nd | Current | 15JUN15 | 22MAY09 |
| 3rd | Current | 08AUG15 | 01OCT09 |
This means, for example, that an Indian national whose EB-1 immigrant petition was filed in September 2017 can now file for adjustment of status, even though the Final Action cutoff is still June of 2016, more than a year earlier. The effect is less dramatic for Chinese and Indian nationals in the EB-2 and EB-3 category, but will still provide some applicants with the ability to proceed with adjustment of status applications who could not do so before.
If you have questions about your ability to file for adjustment of status based upon the USCIS announcement, please contact SPS Immigration.
