Wait Times for Employment-Based Green Card Filings Increase as USCIS Shifts to Final Action Dates; February Visa Bulletin Remains Unchanged

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The February Visa Bulletin from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs shows no changes in the filing and final action dates for employment-based green cards compared to January. Essentially, the bulletin is a repeat of the previous month’s update.

For February, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will use the “Final Action Date” from the Visa Bulletin to determine eligibility to file green card applications (I-485). Applicants can only file their I-485 if their priority date is earlier than the current “Final Action Date” listed for their category in the bulletin. This marks a shift from January, when USCIS used the “Filing Date” from the Visa Bulletin to determine eligibility. As a result, beneficiaries already in the U.S. will face longer wait times for filing I-485 applications in February.

The filing and final action dates for the first preference employment category remain current. In January, applicants in the U.S. under this category could file their I-485 green card applications concurrently with an I-140 petition. For applicants abroad, visas also remained current, so they did not need to wait for the Visa Bulletin’s final action date. However, due to ongoing backlogs at U.S. embassies, immigrant visa interviews for these applicants continue to experience significant delays.

Final action dates for employment-based preference cases, published by the U.S. Department of State. USCIS will use this chart from the Visa Bulletin to determine eligibility for filing green card applications (I-485) in February.

For employment-based second preference (EB-2) green cards, the priority date for filing I-485 applications was August 1, 2023, in January, but it shifts to April 1, 2023, in February. Applicants abroad with priority dates earlier than April 1, 2023, may secure visa interviews and immigrant visas in February.

In the third preference (EB-3) category, the Adjustment of Status filing date changes from March 1, 2023, in January to December 1, 2022, for February. Applicants with labor certifications filed before December 1, 2022, can expect to file their I-485 green card applications in February. For applicants awaiting visas abroad, those with labor certifications filed before December 1, 2022, and approved, may also secure interviews during the month.

For unskilled workers in the EB-3 category, the final action date in February remains December 8, 2020, unchanged from January. Similarly, the Adjustment of Status filing date also remains December 8, 2020. In February, unskilled workers in the U.S. with labor certifications filed before this date will be eligible to file I-485 applications.