The U.S. Department of State released its Visa Bulletin for April 2023. That’s a big deal if you’re waiting for your priority date to be current so that your green card application can move forward.
If you don’t know what a “visa bulletin” or a “priority date” is, we’ve got you covered. Start by checking out the Boundless guide on How to Read the Visa Bulletin.
If you’re already familiar with those terms, scroll down to our summary of key developments or to the filing category that’s most relevant to you:
- F-1: Unmarried Children (Age 21 and Older) of U.S. Citizens
- F-2A: Spouses and Unmarried Children (Under Age 21) of U.S. Green Card Holders
- F-2B: Unmarried Children (Age 21 or Older) of U.S. Green Card Holders
- F-3: Married Children of U.S. Citizens
- F-4: Siblings of U.S. Citizens
- EB-1: Extraordinary People, Outstanding Researchers and Professors, and Multinational Executives and Managers
- EB-2: Exceptional People and Advanced Degree Holders
- EB-3: Bachelor’s Degree Holders, Skilled Workers, and Unskilled Workers
- EB-4: Special Immigrants
- EB-5: Investors
Every month, USCIS announces whether applicants already living in the United States should file their “adjustment of status” applications based on the “Final Action Dates” or the “Dates for Filing.”
For April, family-based applicants must use the “Dates for Filing” (available on the State Department’s website). For April, employment-based applicants must use the “Final Action Dates” (also available on the State Department’s website).
As predicted in last month’s visa bulletin, due to an increase in demand in the EB-2 category, the State Department has retrogressed final action dates for all countries except China in April, in order to keep immigrant visa number use within the annual limit for 2023.
IMPORTANT: The April 2023 Visa Bulletin saw a significant change to the F-2A family-based category (Spouses and Unmarried Children (Under Age 21) of U.S. Green Card Holders).
Due to a growing backlog of cases in this category, the “Final Action Dates” for F-2A applications are no longer “current” for the first time in several years. *“Final Action Dates” refer to applications whose priority dates have reached the front of the line and can now be adjudicated.
Although the “Final Action Dates” are no longer current, the “Dates for Filing” have remained current for the F-2A category, meaning spouses and unmarried children of U.S. green card holders can still file their green card applications for now. Despite still being able to file, these cases will NOT be adjudicated until the priority date is current. For Mexican applicants, the “Final Action Date” (or priority date) has retrogressed to November 1, 2018, and for all other applicants, the “Final Action Date” has retrogressed to September 8, 2020.
This change is likely to significantly increase wait times for green cards under the F-2A category. Boundless will continue to track this development closely — stay tuned here for future updates.
Family-Based Green Card Backlogs
F-1: UNMARRIED CHILDREN (AGE 21 AND OLDER) OF U.S. CITIZENS
| Country | New Cut-off Date | Old Cut-off Date | Change in Wait Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Category | 8-Aug-16 | 8-Aug-16 | No Change |
| China | 8-Aug-16 | 8-Aug-16 | No Change |
| India | 8-Aug-16 | 8-Aug-16 | No Change |
| Mexico | 1-Dec-02 | 1-Dec-02 | No Change |
| Philippines | 22-Apr-15 | 22-Apr-15 | No Change |
This category sees no change for all countries.
F-2A: SPOUSES AND UNMARRIED CHILDREN (UNDER AGE 21) OF U.S. GREEN CARD HOLDERS
| Country | New Cut-off Date | Old Cut-off Date | Change in Wait Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Category | No wait | No wait | No Change |
| China | No wait | No wait | No Change |
| India | No wait | No wait | No Change |
| Mexico | No wait | No wait | No Change |
| Philippines | No wait | No wait | No Change |
This category sees no change, with all countries remaining current.
F-2B: unmarried children (age 21 or older) of U.S. green card holders
| Country | New Cut-off Date | Old Cut-off Date | Change in Wait Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Category | 1-Jan-17 | 1-Jan-17 | No Change |
| China | 1-Jan-17 | 1-Jan-17 | No Change |
| India | 1-Jan-17 | 1-Jan-17 | No Change |
| Mexico | 1-Jan-02 | 1-Jan-02 | No Change |
| Philippines | 1-Oct-13 | 1-Oct-13 | No Change |
This category sees no change for all countries.
F-3: married children of U.S. citizens
| Country | New Cut-off Date | Old Cut-off Date | Change in Wait Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Category | 8-Nov-09 | 8-Nov-09 | No Change |
| China | 8-Nov-09 | 8-Nov-09 | No Change |
| India | 8-Nov-09 | 8-Nov-09 | No Change |
| Mexico | 15-June-01 | 15-June-01 | No Change |
| Philippines | 8-Nov-03 | 8-Nov-03 | No Change |
This category sees no change for all countries.
F-4: siblings of U.S. citizens
| Country | New Cut-off Date | Old Cut-off Date | Change in Wait Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Category | 15-Dec-07 | 15-Dec-07 | No Change |
| China | 15-Dec-07 | 15-Dec-07 | No Change |
| India | 22-Feb-06 | 22-Feb-06 | No Change |
| Mexico | 01-April-01 | 15-June-01 | -2 months |
| Philippines | 22-Apr-04 | 22-Apr-04 | No Change |
This category sees no change for all countries.
EB-1: extraordinary people, outstanding researchers and professors, and multinational executives and managers
| Country | New Cut-off Date | Old Cut-off Date | Change in Wait Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Category | No wait | No wait | No Change |
| China | 1-Feb-22 | 1-Feb-22 | No Change |
| Central America | No wait | No wait | No Change |
| India | 1-Feb-22 | 1-Feb-22 | No Change |
| Mexico | No wait | No wait | No Change |
| Philippines | No wait | No wait | No Change |
This category sees no change for all countries.
EB-2: exceptional people and advanced degree holders
| Country | New Cut-off Date | Old Cut-off Date | Change in Wait Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Category | 1-July-22 | 1-Nov-22 | -4 months |
| China | 8-June-19 | 8-June-19 | No Change |
| Central America | 1-Nov-22 | 1-Nov-22 | No Change |
| India | 1-Jan-11 | 8-Oct-11 | -9 months, 7 days |
| Mexico | 1-July-22 | 1-Nov-22 | -4 months |
| Philippines | 1-July-22 | 1-Nov-22 | -4 months |
This category sees slight retrogression for all countries, except China and Central America, which saw no change.
EB-3: bachelor’s degree holders, skilled workers, and unskilled workers
| Country | New Cut-off Date | Old Cut-off Date | Change in Wait Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Category | No wait | No wait | No Change |
| China | 1-Nov-18 | 1-Aug-18 | +3 months |
| Central America | No wait | No wait | No Change |
| India | 15-June-12 | 15-June-12 | No Change |
| Mexico | No wait | No wait | No Change |
| Philippines | No wait | No wait | No Change |
This category sees no change for all countries, except for China, which advanced 3 months.
The EB-4 “special immigrants” category saw a significant retrogression for each country, to September 1, 2018. The EB-5 “investors” category saw no changes.
| Category | Country | New Cut-off Date | Old Cut-off Date | Change in Wait Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EB-4: Special Immigrants | General Category | 1-Sept-2018 | 1-Feb-22 | -3 years, 5 months |
| China | 1-Sept-2018 | 1-Feb-22 | -3 years, 5 months | |
| Central America | 1-Sept-2018 | 15-March-18 | -5 months, 17 days | |
| India | 1-Sept-2018 | 1-March-21 | -2 years, 6 months | |
| Mexico | 1-Sept-2018 | 1-Aug-20 | -1 year, 11 months | |
| Philippines | 1-Sept-2018 | 1-Feb-22 | -3 years, 5 months | |
| Vietnam | No wait | No wait | No Change | |
| EB-5: Investors | General Category | No wait | No wait | No Change |
| China | 08-July-15 | 08-July-15 | No Change | |
| Central America | No wait | No wait | No Change | |
| India | 1-June-18 | 1-June-18 | No Change | |
| Mexico | No wait | No wait | No Change | |
| Philippines | No wait | No wait | No Change | |
| Vietnam | No wait | No wait | No change |
Why This Matters
If you’re in line for a green card, it’s important to keep track of actual changes (and likely future developments) in the Visa Bulletin. It’s always a good idea to prepare all the documents needed for your green card application ahead of time, so you can be ready to file as quickly as possible once the Visa Bulletin shows that a green card is available to you. By failing to file in a month when a green card is available, you risk facing a surprise backward movement (“retrogression”) in the next Visa Bulletin, which would close your window of opportunity for filing a green card application. Stay tuned for next month’s update! As always, we’ll highlight all the important changes for you.