Starting in October, 2015, the Department of State’s monthly Visa Bulletin will contain a Date for Filing an adjustment application and a Final Action Date. The former is the date that a family or employment based adjustment applicant can be filed. The latter is the date on which a visa number becomes available, previously called a Priority Date. Please see our blog entry entitled USICS to Permit Early Filing of Adjustment Applications for an explanation of these new terms and how they apply at http://www.rabinowitzrabinowitz.com.
For October, 2015, the Filing Date in family sponsored preference categories is approximately 1 year sooner that the Final Action Date. The exception is the Philippines, which permits filings 4 years sooner than the Final Action Date.
In the employment based preference categories, EB2s for China have a Filing Date that is 2+ years sooner than the Final Action Date. The biggest difference between Filing Date and Final Action Date is for EB3 Other Workers from the Philippines, and then EB2s for India. The former category has a Filing Date that is 8 years sooner than the Final Action Date. The latter has a Filing Date 6+ years sooner than the Final Action Date. Significantly, EB5s for China has a Filing Date of 1.5+ years sooner than the Final Action Date. Highlights of other categories follow:
Category Country Filing Date Final Action Date
EB3 China 10/01/2013 10/15/2011
EB3 India 07/01/2015 03/08/2004
EB3 Mexico 09/01/2015 08/15/2015
EB3 Other Worker China 01/01/2007 01/01/2006
EB3 Other Worker India 07/01/2005 03/08/2004
EB3 Other Worker Mexico 09/01/2015 08/15/2015
EB3 Other Worker Philippines 01/01/2015 01/01/2007
EB5 China 05/01/2015 10/08/2013
Please see http://www.travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/law-and-policy/bulletin/2016/visa-bulletin-for-october-2015.html for the complete October, 2015 Visa Bulletin.