As part of President Obama’s plan to modernize and streamline the legal immigration system, the Department of State (DOS) is in the process of revamping the Visa Bulletin system, which may allow the filing of an I-485 Petition before priority dates are current under the existing system.

Currently, immigrant visa availability is based on the monthly Visa Bulletin that is published by the DOS. This Visa Bulletin lists cut-off dates that are based on a person’s priority date, country of birth and Employment-Based preference category (Ex: EB2, EB3). If you are from a country where demand for a visa in a particular preference category is more than the supply, the DOS will impose a cut-off date. If your priority date falls earlier than the imposed cut-off date, your priority date is considered current and you are eligible to file the I-485 or apply for an Immigrant Visa abroad.

Now it looks like the DOS intends to create two separate categories of cut-off dates. These dates would both be reflected in the monthly Visa Bulletin. This new system will serve to ease the effects of slow moving cut-off dates and visa retrogression, especially for those from countries like India or China.

The first will be labeled the “approval” cut-off date and this will act under the current system and determine when an Adjustment of Status or Immigrant Visa application can be approved. The second will be labeled as an “acceptance” cut-off date and will determine when an application can be filed. Once filed, a person will be eligible for the benefits involved with adjustment applications, which include: obtaining an Employment Authorization Document, Advance Parole and AC-21 portability.

From this we can gather that the “acceptance” cut-off dates will be many years before the “approval” cut-off dates for the India and China Employment-Based categories. If this happens, many Indian and Chinese nationals will be able to file an adjustment application immediately once the Visa Bulletin acceptance dates become effective.

This is all we know for now. I will keep you updated on any news that comes in regarding this exciting change!

For the relevant article issued by The National Law Review, please visit: http://www.natlawreview.com/article/significant-change-to-us-department-state-visa-bulletin