The visa bulletin for May 2020 wasn’t released until pretty late in the month US immigrants to speculate whether there will be a visa bulletin at all. Late timing coupled with President Trump’s Executive Order to suspend green card issuance for 60 days, left employment based and family based visa holders with little hope…until the May 2020 visa bulletin was released over the weekend. 

The Good News

The overall picture for India and China is looking up with advancements in cutoff dates in most employment based visa categories. Although not a grand sweeping march ahead, these forward movements in priority dates was least expected after the recent immigration-related announcements, which is why this was welcome.

Lastly, May 2020’s visa bulletin sees that the Final Action Dates is finally current for all EB-1 countries worldwide, excluding India and China. This is some reprieve especially since these have become current after several months of retrogression.

May 2020 Visa Bulletin Analysis

A quick review of April’s visa bulletin reminds us that very little movement happened in any of the visa categories. But the good news then was that there weren’t any unexpected retrogressions either. We look at the May 2020’s visa bulletin to see how the priority dates have been impacted individually for each visa category and overall in the bigger picture of movement during this Covid-19 lockdown.

With the President Trump declaring a National Emergency due to the Coronavirus spread and the country had gone into complete lockdown mode, all USCIS offices were shut down and all in-person services suspended. There were little expectations in having any progress in priority dates.

Which Countries Are Current?

Except for India and China, the Rest of the World (ROW) stands current under the employment based (EB) visa categories. Particular reference to EB-3 which stayed at January 1, 2017.

Just as announced in April 2020’s visa bulletin, USCIS will be considering Final Action dates for adjustment of status filings in the month of May. 

If an adjustment of status (AOS) is being filed under the EB category, the priority date should be earlier than the date listed below.

Priority Dates for India

• EB-1: Minor forward movement to August 1, 2015.
• EB-2: Advanced to June 2, 2009, a small 1-week push.
• EB-3: Another forward move to March 1, 2009.  With a month-and-a-half progression, this was positive move in cutoff date advancements after a several visa bulletins.
• EB-5: India saw a substantial jump to October 1, 2019, a nine-month advancement for the cut-off dates. 

Priority Dates for China

• EB-1: Similar to India’s small advancement, China moves ahead to July 15, 2017
• EB-2: Moves up to October 1, 2015.
• EB-3: Again, similar to EB-3 India, EB3 China advanced to May 15, 2016.
• EB-5: The last advancement in the cutoff dates with a six-week jump to July 1, 2015. 

Disclaimer

The above analysis is for informational purposes only. Please consult an immigration lawyer at Lawbench before making any changes to your visa status.