State Dept. Issues Revised October 2015 Visa Bulletin

​​On the evening of Friday, September 25, the U.S. State Department (DOS) made the surprising and disappointing decision to re-issue the October 2015 Visa Bulletin. The Department of Homeland Security and United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will rely on the revised visa bulletin to determine eligibility for filing of applications for adjustment of status.

The revised bulletin largely rescinds the advancements made in some of the most severely backlogged preference categories. Specifically, the “Dates for Filing Applications” in the EB-2 category for nationals in China and India were shifted to much earlier dates that in the original bulletin.  The affected categories are as follows:

•    EB-2 China moved back May 1, 2014, to January 1, 2013
•    EB-2 India moved back from July 1, 2011, to July 1, 2009
•    EB-3 Philippines moved back from January 1, 2015, to January 1, 2010
•    FB-1 Mexico moved back from July 1, 1995, to April 1, 1995
•    FB-3 Mexico moved back from October 1, 1996, to May 1, 1995

This is certainly frustrating news for the many individuals who had hoped to finally file adjustment of status applications based on the original October 2015 visa bulletin. We will continue to monitor this situation and we will alert our readers of any new developments on as soon as possible.

As always, please contact us with any questions.