The November 2022 Visa Bulletin was released on October 7, 2022, displaying the new priority dates for visa applications for next month. Those affected by October’s Visa Bulletin, which saw a retrogression of over 2 years and 8 months for India EB2, were patiently waiting for the results of the November Visa Bulletin to better understand what the future holds for priority dates for FY2023.
In the November 2022 Visa Bulletin, there are no changes to the priority dates for both India EB2 and EB3. The employment-based charts for both final action dates and dates of filing applications stayed stagnant for all countries. It is rumored that this is because the USCIS is waiting until they have all the data they need to take a good look at the numbers, mostly in terms of demand, in order to understand how to best move forward with tackling the immense backlog of visa applications.
Key Takeaways from the November 2022 Visa Bulletin
- No change in the employment-based categories for both final action date and date of filing application for ALL countries
- Final action date for Mexico F1 advances by 8 months
- Date of filing applications for Mexico F1 advances by 1 year
- Date of filing applications for Mexico F2B advances by 4 months and 24 days
November 2022 Visa Bulletin Results
Family-Based
Final Action Dates
Dates for Filing Applications
Employment-Based
Final Action Dates
Dates for Filing Applications
The USCIS also added a note to the November 2022 Visa Bulletin regarding the employment second category and its current demand. They report that the increased demand for visas in the employment second category may require enacting a worldwide final action date in the coming months in order to ensure that the USCIS is not going beyond the maximum number of visas available to use under the FY2023 annual limit. This is a situation being monitored, and will be reported back on in the near future.
This note has one big takeaway to consider – the demand for EB2 for the rest of the world is growing, much greater than in the past. Due to this reason, there will be less spillover visas available for India in particular.
December 2022 Visa Bulletin Predictions
Considering the results of the October and November Visa Bulletins, it doesn’t appear that the second category for employment-based visas will make any movement for any country. India EB2 will most certainly not move forward. The future of India EB3 is unclear at the moment, but will likely not advance.
At this time, it doesn’t appear that India EB2 or EB3 will advance until sometime next year, with some analysts suggesting priority date movement won’t be seen until March or April of 2023.
Check back for our complete December 2022 Visa Bulletin Predictions article to come in the next few weeks for a more thorough deep dive into what we can expect in the next Visa Bulletin release.
