VISA2US Blog

Followers of the US State Department’s monthly Visa Bulletin were pleased to see so much forward momentum in the October release. Yet, those who recognize the changes and what they mean predicted that so much movement would be followed by slow growth, and November’s bulletin is evidence of that expectation. With hardly any movement anywhere, the second bulletin of the new fiscal year’s lackluster release is broken down here.

The topic of green cards and the long wait to obtain one has been part of ongoing legislation for years. In certain countries, individuals have waited years and, in some cases, over a decade to receive their green card. As of the Visa Bulletin’s release of October 1, 2023, there are some major changes on the horizon, but do these help or hinder the green card program? Keep reading to find out.

The demand for US Citizenship and Immigration Services to deplete its backlog of applications has reached the ears of the government, and a solution may be at hand. Recently, USCIS began staffing a new virtual service center where humanitarian immigration applications will be processed. These applications include visas for individuals and families of domestic violence and crimes, and removing them from the general caseload will speed up urgent applications and reduce wait time for others.

The report for Q1 of 2022 shows that the U.S. has a high level of newly admitted arrivals from Asian and African countries, and also points to well known trends with regards to Mexico, India, and China.

The CDC has issued guidelines as of January, 2021, for receiving a Covid test before any international trip coming to the United States.

The new bill is aspirational in terms of providing a “pathway to citizenship” without concrete details yet for how such a process would work with the USCIS.

This month's Visa Bulletin shows continued excessive wait times for family-based applicants in several categories, except F2A. In addition, employment-based visas reflect the demand for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd category visas, especially as most countries have a ”Current” date for filing.

The State Department has released their visa bulletin for the month of January 2021.

Countries now taken off of the restricted via President Biden’s executive order will now be able to file their DS-260 forms on the CEAC per the consular processing route.

This month’s visa bulletin represents the latest numbers available in the month of December 2020, for “Current” visas—those numbers that are authorized for issuance to all qualified applicants in both categories of family-based and employment-based immigration.