The US Department of State has released the visa bulletin for December.
This bulletin helps immigrant visa applicants understand the Final Action Dates and Dates for Filing Applications for submitting paperwork to the National Visa Center (NVC).
Applicants should follow the Final Action Dates charts to know when they can file their adjustment of status applications with USCIS, unless otherwise mentioned on the USCIS website.
Updates for Employment-Based Applicants from India
For Indian applicants, there have been slight advancements in some employment-based visa categories:
EB-1 category: Final Action Date moves forward by 1 month to March 15, 2022.
EB-2 category: Final Action Date moves forward by 1 month 14 days to May 15, 2013.
EB-3 category: Final Action Date moves forward by 1 month to September 22, 2013.
Dates for Filing Applications remain the same:
EB-1: April 15, 2023
EB-2: December 1, 2013
EB-3: August 15, 2014
Applicants should start preparing their Adjustment of Status (AOS) documents, but USCIS will only process them once the Final Action Date becomes current.
How Priority Dates Work
Applicants with a priority date earlier than the chart date may submit required documents to the NVC.
If a visa category is oversubscribed, only applicants with priority dates before a certain cut-off can file.
A category listed as “C” (current) means all applicants can file regardless of priority date.
The US sets limits for visas annually:
Family-sponsored preference immigrants: 226,000
Employment-based immigrants: at least 140,000
Per-country limit: 7% of total annual preference limits (~25,620)
Dependent areas limit: 2% (~7,320)
Diversity Visa (DV) Category
For DV-2026 applicants, visas are available based on regional lottery rank numbers.
Only applicants below the specified allocation cut-off number are eligible for immigrant numbers.
This bulletin is essential for anyone planning to apply for US immigrant visas, as it determines when they can submit applications and prepare necessary documents.
