The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has released the April 2021 Visa Bulletin 2 weeks prior to the beginning of the month which features significant advancement in many employment-based green card categories and the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has issued instructions that the Final Action Dates chart for employment-based cases shall be followed. Both the Departments of State (DOS) and Homeland Security – United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (DHS), (USCIS) have specific roles in administering the law and policies related to the admission of immigrants for permanent residence to the United States. While the DOS Consular Affairs is responsible for issuing visas (allocation and assignment), the USCIS must first approve immigrant petitions as part of a multiple set of applications which also includes a role by the US Department of Labor that is responsible for ensuring that employers seeking to hire employment-based LPRs have met the minimum requirements to hire foreign workers permanently.
This bulletin is extremely important for all immigrant visa applicants as it summarizes the availability of immigrant numbers during the month of April 2021 indicating when applicants can file for the adjustment of status application (the last stage of the green card process) with the USCIS. Once the priority date (the date the immigrant visa petition is filed) becomes current (mentioned on the visa bulletin) the applicant and dependent family members can prepare to file for the I-485can then assemble and submit the required documentation. In any given year the worldwide immigrant visa number allotment is 140,000 amongst all countries and due to the fact, each country on this list has met the quota for respective immigrant visa backlogs persists.
| Employment- based |
All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed |
CHINA- mainland born |
EL SALVADOR GUATEMALA HONDURAS |
INDIA | MEXICO | PHILIPPINES | VIETNAM |
| 1st | C | C | C | C | C | C | C |
| 2nd | C | 01SEP16 | C | 01MAY10 | C | C | C |
| 3rd | C | 15MAR18 | C | 01SEP10 | C | C | C |
| Other Workers | C | 01JUN09 | C | 01SEP10 | C | C | C |
| 4th | C | C | 01AUG18 | C | 01FEB19 | C | C |
| Certain Religious Workers | C | C | 01AUG18 | C | 01FEB19 | C | C |
| 5th Non-Regional Center (C5 and T5) |
C | 15AUG15 | C | C | C | C | 15DEC17 |
| 5th Regional Center (I5 and R5) |
C | 15AUG15 | C | C | C | C | 15DEC17 |
1. Employment-Based, First Preference (EB1) Category: The EB1 category is current for all countries of chargeability.
2. Employment-Based, Second Preference (EB2) Category: EB2 India moves forward to May 1, 2010. EB2 China advances to September 1, 2016. The EB2 category remains current for all other countries of chargeability.
3. Employment-Based, Third Preference (EB3) Category: The cutoff date for EB3 India moves ahead to September 1, 2010. EB3 China’s cutoff date advances to March 15, 2018. The EB3 category remains current for all other countries of chargeability.
4. EB3 Other Workers: With the exception of China, the cutoff dates for EB3 other workers are the same for each country as its respective EB3 cutoff dates. For China, the cutoff date for EB3 other workers moves to June 1, 2009.
5. Employment-Based, Fourth Preference (EB4) Category: The cutoff date for EB4 Mexico advances to February 1, 2019, The EB4 cutoff date for El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras moves to August 1, 2018. This category remains current for all other countries of chargeability.
6. Employment-Based, Fifth Preference (EB5) Category: The EB5 category remains current for all countries of chargeability, other than China and Vietnam. For China, the EB5 cutoff date remains at August 15, 2015. For Vietnam, the EB5 cutoff date advances to December 15, 2017.
We, at Emandi Law Firm, will keep you posted with further updates.
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