Breaking: October 2015 Visa Bulletin Revised – EB-2 India/China and EB-3 Philippines Revised Backwards

Just a few minutes ago, and just a few days before the October 2015 Visa Bulletin were to become effective, the U.S. State Department has released a revision to the October 2015 Visa Bulletin.   EB-2 India and China applicants, many of whom were the primary beneficiaries of the October 2015 Visa Bulletin two-tier cutoff date system, would be disappointed by the backwards revision of the Filing cutoff dates.

Revised Visa Bulletin Filing Cutoff Date Revision

The October 2015 Visa Bulletin revised the Filing cutoff date for employment-based cases as follows:

• EB-2 India – moving backwards by two (2) years from July 1, 2011 to July 1, 2009.
• EB-2 China -moving backwards by seventeen (17) months from May 1, 2014 to January 1, 2013.
• EB-3 Philippines – moving backwards by five (5) years from January 1, 2015 to January 1, 2010.

As a result of the revised October 2015 Visa Bulletin, only those applicants whose priority date is earlier than the noted cutoff date can file their I-485 applications.      The impact of this revision is that thousands of applicants who were on the verge of filing I-485 adjustment of status applications will now be unable to do so.

Update on Litigation and Efforts to Rescind Visa Bulletin Revision

As a result of this revision, there are a number of efforts underway seeking to rescind this October 2015 Visa Bulletin revision.    A class action lawsuit (with a pending temporary restraining order) has been filed and there is a public relations campaign to seek relief by USCIS and DOS.   Our office is participating in a number of efforts to either rescind this revision or to provide a more fair alternative to the tens of thousands of applicants who were affected by this sudden change.     We will provide important updates as soon as there are any.

Future Cutoff Date Movements

At this time, we do not know how quickly would the Filing cutoff dates move forward over the next months.   We are hoping for aggressive forward movement over the next months but given this sudden revision in the Visa Bulletin, we will seek input from stakeholders and provide on our website and weekly Newsletter.

Further Updates and News

We invite you to subscribe to our free weekly immigration newsletter to receive timely updates on this and related topics.  We also invite you to contact us if our office can be of any assistance in your immigration matters or you have any questions or comments about the October 2015 Visa Bulletin and its revision.