Business Immigration Insights

The State Department has published the July Visa Bulletin. As is typical near the end of the fiscal year, priority date advances are more modest and pauses and retrogression are more common. In recent court updates, a federal judge has ordered U.S. immigration agencies to lift the months-long pause on green card adjudications for nationals of 75 countries (see Note 2 below). Finally, in July USCIS will continue to accept I‑485 applications based on Final Action Dates, not the more favorable Dates for Filing chart.

Below is a summary, which is based on Final Action Dates and shows changes from the previous month, but first – some background if you’re new to these blog posts.  If you’re familiar with the Visa Bulletin, feel free to skip the following bullet points:

• The Visa Bulletin is released monthly by the U.S. Department of State in collaboration with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which then releases two charts – “Dates for Filing” and “Final Action Dates” – and designates which chart will apply that month.
• If USCIS designates Dates for Filing and your priority date (that is, the date you were placed on the waiting list) is earlier than the cutoff date for your nationality and category in that chart, you may submit your I‑485 adjustment of status application (if you’re eligible to apply with USCIS from inside the United States). However, USCIS cannot approve the application and issue your green card until your priority date is current in Final Action Dates.
• If you are applying from outside the United States, you cannot file your DS‑260 immigrant visa application until the National Visa Center notifies you to do so, and your home embassy cannot issue you an immigrant visa until your priority date is current in Final Action Dates.

Now for the July Visa Bulletin:

India sees mixed movement:

• EB-1 retrogresses 2 months to October 15, 2022
• EB-2 is unavailable for the rest of the fiscal year
• EB-3 Professionals and EB-3 Other Workers advance 17 days to January 1, 2014

 China advances in two categories:

• EB-1 advances 2 months at June 1, 2023
• EB-2 pauses at September 1, 2021
• EB-3 Professionals advances almost 3 months to December 22, 2021
• EB-3 Other Workers holds at April 1, 2019

 All Other Countries progresses in two categories:

• EB-1 and EB-2 remain current
• EB-3 Professionals advances 2 months to August 1, 2024 (except the Philippines, which holds at August 1, 2023)
• EB-3 Other Workers advances 1 month at March 1, 2022 (except the Philippines, which advances 1 month to December 1, 2021)

NOTE 1:  USCIS will accept I-485 applications in July based on Final Action Dates, not the more favorable Dates for Filing chart.

NOTE 2:  On June 5, 2026, a federal judge ruled that the State Department’s pause on immigrant visa and I-485 adjustment adjudications for individuals from 75 countries is unlawful. The government has appealed the ruling, but in the interim USCIS will resume processing of suspended applications for individuals from the following countries:

Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Burma, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Colombia, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominica, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, The Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyz Republic, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Pakistan, Republic of the Congo, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, and Yemen.