As immigration law professionals, we have been sitting on the edge of our seats for days now, waiting for the October visa bulletin to be released. It finally dropped early the morning, and it looks like it’s good news for thousands of would-be green card applicants, who may finally be able to file their I-485 application for permanent residence.

However, let’s dig into this a bit more before you break out the champagne glasses in celebration:

• The visa bulletin contains four tables with priority dates (this is true each month).
• Two tables are for family-based cases, and two tables are for employment-based cases.
• For each category (family-based and employment-based), there are two tables:
  • Final Action Dates
  • Dates for Filing
• The Final Action Dates table tells us if a green card is available (as determined by the U.S. Department of State, or DOS) for any given category.
• The Dates for Filing table tells us if the DOS believes that the priority date for a given category will likely become current in the foreseeable future, such that an applicant should be able to go ahead and submit the I-485 application package.
• So right now, if you look at the employment-based tables, the letter “C” appears for many, but not all, categories. That means that if you fall into one of these categories and the letter C appears for your category in both tables, you can file the I-485 in the month of October.
• However, if you were born in India or China, you will see that there are specific dates (priority dates) listed in the charts. You will also see that those dates are different, for the same category, depending on whether you are looking at the Final Action Date chart, or the Dates for Filing chart.
• USCIS will announce on their website which table they will use for the month of October. Therefore, right now, we have to wait for that announcement to determine whether you can file in October, of will have to wait.

Do you need help filing the I-485? Send an email to info@sumnerimmigration.com for more information, and to get the process started!

Are you interested in learning about what to do if your current I-140 petition is in the EB-2 category, but your date will be current for EB-3?

Or do you wonder what documents are required for the I-485 filing, so that you can start preparing them now?

Those will be our next posts, so stay tuned! Please also join us for a late-breaking webinar that we’ll hold on Friday, September 25^th at noon! To register, please sign up here.

Please also consider following and/or “linking” with me (Emily) on LinkedIn, where I post frequent updates and tips on U.S. immigration law!

If you need help navigating this process with confidence, please contact us today to get the process underway! We are immigration lawyers in Richmond, VA but we serve clients throughout the U.S. and around the world. You can call us at 804-396-3412 or send us an email to info@sumnerimmigration.com. We look forward to hearing from you.