October Visa Bulletin Brings Many Changes to Employment-Based Preferences

by Alan Lee, Esq.


The October 2023 visa bulletin came out on September 15 bringing relief to many and frustration to others in the employment-based (EB) categories. Those in the family-based (FB) categories were mostly frustrated by the lack of movement. There were many positive advances along with a number of retreats in the Visa Office’s “final action dates” and “dates for filing” employment-based charts. The family-based (FB) categories had little or no movement at all in both charts. USCIS followed up with the positive news that it would follow the “dates for filing” chart for employment-based cases for the month, a big change as it last used that chart in March 2023. It continues to use the “dates for filing” chart for family-based cases.

The changes from the September visa bulletin were as follow:

Family-based (FB final action dates) Rest of the world (ROW) except for certain countries – F-2A for spouses and children under the age of 21 and unmarried of permanent residents advanced one year one month and one week to 2/8/19; Mexico F-2B for children over the age of 21 of LPR’s moved up five months to 1/1/02; Mexico F-3 for married children of US citizens advanced one month three weeks to 3/8/98; and India F-4 for siblings of US citizens moved forward three weeks to 10/8/05. FB dates for filing – Unchanged.

Employment-based (EB final action dates) ROW for EB-1 extraordinary aliens, outstanding professors and researchers, and multinational executives and managers jumped to “Current” from 8/1/23 for all countries except China (unchanged from 2/15/22) and India that advanced five years to 1/1/17. EB-2 ROW for exceptional aliens and those with advanced degrees moved up one week to 7/8/22 for all countries except China (advanced two months three weeks to 10/1/19) and India that jumped up one year to 1/1/12. EB-3 ROW for skilled workers and professionals jumped one year seven months to 12/1/21 for all countries except China (advanced four months to 1/1/20) and India that jumped 3 years four months to 5/1/12. EB-3W ROW Other Workers moved up three months to 8/1/20 for all countries except China (advanced four months to 1/1/16) and India which jumped 3 years four months to 5/1/12. EB-4 ROW Certain Special Immigrants moved up three months to 1/1/19 while the component for Certain Religious Workers became unavailable due to unpassed legislation. EB-5 ROW for unreserved investors remained current for all countries except China (advanced three weeks to 10/1/15) and India that dropped one year seven months and three weeks to 12/15/18. EB-5 set-asides remained “Current” worldwide.

Employment-based (EB dates for filing) ROW for EB-1 extraordinary aliens, outstanding professors and researchers, and multinational executives and managers remained “Current” for all countries except China (advanced two months to 8/1/22 and India that moved backwards almost 3 years to 7/1/19. EB-2 ROW for exceptional aliens and those with advanced degrees moved up one month to 1/1/23 for all countries except China (advanced two months three weeks to 1/1/20) and India that remained unchanged at 5/15/12. EB-3 ROW for skilled workers and professionals advanced three months to 2/1/23 for all countries except China (advanced 10 months to 9/1/20) and India that remained unchanged at 8/1/12. EB-3W ROW Other Workers moved up six months to 12/15/20 for all countries except China (advanced one year six months to 6/1/17) and India which remained unchanged at 8/1/12. EB-4 ROW Certain Special Immigrants moved up five months to 3/1/19 along with the same movement for its component, Certain Religious Workers. EB-5 ROW for unreserved investors remained current for all countries except China (advanced one year to 1/1/17) and India that catapulted two years four months and three weeks to 4/1/22. EB-5 set-asides remained “Current” worldwide.

With a fresh supply of numbers for the start of Fiscal Year (FY) 2024, it remains to be seen how much forward movement the Visa Office can allow in the coming months.

About The Author


Alan Lee, Esq. is an exclusive practitioner of immigration law based in New York City with an AV preeminent rating in the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory for 20+ years, registered in the Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers, on the New York Super Lawyers list (2011-12, 2013-14, 2014-2015, 2015-2023), and recognized as a New York Area Top Rated Lawyer. He has written extensively on immigration over the past years for Interpreter Releases, Immigration Daily, and the ethnic newspapers, World Journal, Sing Tao, Epoch Times, Pakistan Calling, Muhasba and OCS; testified as an expert on immigration in civil court proceedings; and is a regular contributor to Martindale-Hubbell's Ask-a-Lawyer program. His article, "The Bush Temporary Worker Proposal and Comparative Pending Legislation: an Analysis" was Interpreter Releases' cover display article at the American Immigration Lawyers Association annual conference in 2004; his 2004 case in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, Firstland International v. INS, successfully challenged Legacy INS' policy of over 40 years of revoking approved immigrant visa petitions under a nebulous standard of proof, although its central holding that the government had to notify approved immigrant petition holders of the revocation prior to the their departure to the U. S. for the petition to be able to be revoked was short-lived as it was specifically targeted in the Intelligence Reform Act of 2004 (which in response changed the language of the revocation statute itself). Yet Firstland lives on as precedent that the government must comply with nondiscretionary duties established in law, and such failure is reviewable in federal courts. His 2015 case, Matter of Leacheng International, Inc., with the Administrative Appeals Office of USCIS (AAO) set nation-wide standards on the definition of "doing business" for multinational executives and managers to gain immigration benefits. ILW.COM.