Visa Bulletin: Introduction for Applicants Adjusting Status

The first day of federal government’s fiscal year is October 1 . With it comes a replenishment in the supply of green card. If you are pursuing a Green Card through an Adjustment-of-Status (AOS), in either the family-based category (FB) of employment-based category (EB), and have a priority application date, this can be a crucial time. But the Visa Bulletin can be confusing.

This post aims to provide a practical overview of how the Visa Bulletin determines if FB or EB AOS applications can be submitted with US Citizenship and Immigration Services and, if they are, if they can be approved. AOS is an application that allows you to change your immigration status, from temporary to permanent. This is a crucial step to feel secure in your new life in the United States. Priority dates and Visa Bulletins are important in the world of FB AOS applications. They impact the ability to submit an application to USCIS as well as once submitted, the ability for USCIS to accept your application. Priority dates are usually the date that the FB or EB petition was filed or, if required, the date the application was filed.

This post refers to FB AOS family-based applications for those who are not the spouses or kids of US citizens. You are not affected by the annual green card supply if you seek permanent resident status because you are the child or spouse of a US Citizen. Priority dates and the Visa Bulletin do not affect your ability to submit an AOS application or, once submitted, have it approved.

Visa Bulletin and Filing An AOS application

In order to be eligible to submit a FB or an EB AOS in a particular month, the Visa Bulletin chart used by USCIS to determine eligibility for that month must show your priority date as “current”. The Visa Bulletin publishes two charts for FB and EB categories each month. One chart lists “Dates for filing” and the other “Final action dates.” Your priority date will be current if the chart indicates that it is “Current” for your country of chargeability, and the other list a cut-off time where your prior date falls before. (See Here to learn what “C” means.)

USCIS may use the Dates for Filing Chart to determine if a FB or EB AOS can be filed in certain months. USCIS may use the Final Action Dates Chart in other months. The chart USCIS utilizes to determine if a FB or EB AOS can be filed changes from month to month. See here why. You must use the chart that USCIS uses in any given month if you want to submit an application in that month. It is therefore possible, and in fact common, for USCIS to use a chart for the “Final Action Dates” to determine if FB or EB AOS applications can be filed. USCIS announced which chart to use at the time this post was written using This webpage.

Visa Bulletin and Approval of an AOS application

After your FB AOS or EB AOS has been properly filed, only the final action dates chart will determine if the application can approved. When USCIS completes processing your application, and it is deemed to be approved on its meritsyour Priority Date must be current within the Final Action dates chart in order for USCIS approve the application. USCIS will review your application, issue any requests for proof, collect biometrics, conduct background checks, and, if necessary, schedule and conduct an interview.

Priority dates and the Visa Bulletin v. AOS application case processing time

When your priority date is updated according to the chart of Final Action Dates is a different issue than the USCIS case process time. USCIS used This webpage at the time this post was written to estimate AOS application processing times. This webpage contains USCIS’s estimated case processing time, regardless of an applicant’s current priority date according to the chart for Final Action Dates.

Your application may be approved if, during the month in which USCIS completes processing your FB AOS or EB AOS and deems that it is approvable on its own merits . USCIS will not approve your application if your priority date does not match the chart of Final Action Dates in a particular month. It must instead be current when USCIS completes processing your application and approves it on its merits .

When USCIS completes processing of your application, and determines that it is approved on its merits in the month, but your priority date according to the chart for Final Action Dates is , not, current, USCIS will hold your application until your priority becomes current. If your required documentation (such as a medical exam report) is still valid and USCIS has not requested updated evidence, then you can expect to have your application approved. USCIS may issue a Request for Evidence if required documentation is expired or updated proof is needed.

Immigration law is often compared to tax law for its complexity. While this blog can hopefully help you understand one aspect of the immigration process, it is not a substitute for having qualified legal counsel by your side.

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AILA members looking for an easy-to-use client flyer that covers some of this as well may find this client resource helpful: https://www.aila.org/advo-media/tools/psas/visa-bulletin-understanding-the-basics.