October 2023 Visa Bulletin was released by Department of State and USCIS and it comes with some news.
On one hand, Table A (Final Action Dates) does not change much for most countries. In fact EB-2 advances only 7 days from September to October, with a date of July 8, 2023 in October.
October is the first month of Fiscal Year 2024
The Fiscal Year from USCIS does not follow our natural calendar year. Instead of going from January to December, USCIS goes from October to September. This means that October 2023 will be the first month of the Fiscal Year 2024. This is relevant because the agency has an annual cap on green cards they can adjudicate. Many people had high hopes for the change of the Fiscal Year, thinking that the cap would be renewed and a flood of visa numbers would make the Visa Bulletin advance in a step change.
Why changes are not big with the change in Fiscal Year
It is very possible that USCIS and the Department of State are doing a good job estimating demand and their forecast allows them to run the visa bulletin in a smooth way, without step changes. It is also true that beyond the annual cap, they are also bound to a quarterly cap, so they cannot exceed a certain number of visa numbers adjudicated every three month period.
Table B can be used for Adjustment of Status in October: what does it mean?
Even though Table A did not move much, the big news broke when USCIS updated their Filing Chart informational website, allowing October’s employment-based green card applicant to file adjustment of status petitions based on Table B (Dates for Filing).
This is excellent news to potentially hundreds of EB2 NIW applicants, because the date goes from July 8, 2023 (Table A) to January 1, 2023 based on Table B. This is a diference of half a year! In summary, it means that petitioners with a Priority Date earlier than January 2023 can file their adjustment of status in the month of October (and request interim benefits such as EAD card and travel document).
This was also the reason I had to record 2 videos for my YouTube channel instead of the typical one video per visa bulletin, clarifying that Table B could be use.
Not so fast: you won’t get a green card based on Table B
But similar to Consular Processing applicants, petitioners who file adjustment of status based on Table B will not be granted a green card until Table A allows them to do so. In other words, Table A still is the governing reference when it comes to make visa number available.
Hi,
My priority date is after the final action date (PD: Nov 4, 2022) and I live outside the USA. Can I request an expedited process (due to a medical emergency) to the NVC for an interview in a consulate abroad?
I doubt they will honor it especially because there is no visa number available to you, but you can try