Click here to view December 2019 Visa Bulletin. 

The U.S. Department of State (DOS) published the Monthly Visa Bulletin for December 2019, which reflects Dates for Filing moved to current for EB-1 except for India and China as well as no movement or modest forward movement of the Final Action Dates across backlogged preference categories.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) also confirmed on its website that beneficiaries of employment-based immigrant petitions should continue to use the Dates for Filing rather than the Final Action Dates when filing during the month of December 2019. In the recent past, CIS had generally required employment-based adjustment of status applications to be filed based on the Final Action Dates, which were typically later than the Dates for Filing. Although applications may be accepted earlier by CIS, applications cannot be ultimately approved until after the Final Action Date, or priority date. 

The following Dates for Filing remained the same for China and India as in the October and November 2019 Visa Bulletins, except for EB-5, but moved forward to current for all other chargeability areas in this December 2019 Visa Bulletin. 

Beneficiaries of approved employment-based immigrant petitions who may become eligible to file adjustment of status applications in December are encouraged to begin preparation of these applications now with their Foster immigration attorney to plan for the earliest possible filing date in the month of December. 

Foster LLP will continue to track immigrant visa availability and will provide future updates through Immigration Updates© and posts on our website at www.fosterglobal.com.