So, the July visa bulletin has been released and we've seen some movement in some employment
categories, as well as some family categories. Let's talk about this in this video as well
as some of my predictions for the next few months. I'll see you on the other side. So
we'll talk about that, some of the advancements, what moved, what hasn’t moved, and we'll
talk about some predictions for the next few months. Everybody's waiting, everybody's anxious.
Things are slow right now. So, we'll talk about that in this video. If you're here for
the first time, make sure to subscribe to our channel. Click that bell to be notified.
We release videos every single week. We also do live videos to update you on current events,
and there's going to be quite a few things happening this week. So, for those of you
that don't know me, my name is Jacob Sapochnick, and I am an immigration attorney located in
San Diego, California, and we represent clients in all 50 states. So, let's diving right into
the July 2020 visa bulletin. Let's start with employment-based categories. So, if we look
at the employment-based categories, we have some… if you try to summarize a little bit,
we can look at a glance. EB1 China advanced by one week to August 22, 2017. EB1 India
advanced 11 months to May 8, 2017. EB2 China is going to advance by one week to November
8, 2015. And if you look at EB2 India, it advanced by almost one month to July 8, 2009.
So, it's not as much as we expected, but there's been some advancement and I think we're going
to see more of that coming up. EB3 worldwide advance over five months to April 15, 2018.
EB3 China is going to advance by one week to June 22, 2016. EB3 India is going to advance
by two months to June 1, 2018. The chart that we're looking at right now is final action
dates. And if we go back to the final category, EB5 India will become current, while EB5 China
will advance by one a week to July 22, 2015. EB5 Vietnam advanced by three weeks to May
15, 2017. Those of you that are inside the United States and you are waiting for your
Adjustment of Status based on employment, the chart that you have to look at is the
final action dates chart. This is the chart that we have here on the screen right now.
Now, if we look at the overall picture of employment-based immigration on the visa bulletin,
the advancement is not really, really significant. But it has somehow advanced. Remember that
you have to distinguish the visa bulletin, whether you are inside the United States or
if you are outside of United States. If you're inside the United States, we have to go with
what the USCIS visa bulletin instructions are. And right now, those instructions are
to follow the final action dates for both employment and for family category. Just for
the F2A category, which we're going to be talking about it right now, if you look at
the final action dates for family. So, if you are inside the United States, you are
on F2A category, which is spouses of green card holders, and children under 21. This
category is still current, and you're able to file your adjustment of status inside the
United States. So, just like in June of 2020, July of 2020, if you're inside the United
States, the USCIS specifically said that you are able to use the final action dates to
look at your Adjustment of Status if you are on the F2A category. If you are not an F2A
to a category, if you are all other family categories, which is F1, F2B, F3, F4, then
you have to look at the date of filing which is a little bit different. And the dates there
are not current for quite a few of these applications. And of course not for F2A as well. So, if
you're F2A, and you are inside the United States, then you should look at the chart,
which is the final action dates. But for all other family categories, you have to look
at data filing. And again, it is definitely still backlogged and it's still slow but we're
hoping to see some better movements in the next month ahead. But again, the difference
between June and July was not really that much. But it's definitely been… we've seen
some movement forward and that's kind of how we see it in the employment-based. I want
to go back into the employment-based right now and kind of talk a little bit more detail
to go through each category one by one. All right, so let's go into the employment-based,
a little bit more detailed, and go through the different categories and see where they
are right now. Final action dates. Alright. So, EB1, let's go to EB1 China is August 22,
2017, India May 8, 2017, all other countries our current. EB2 China is November 8, 2017.
India is July 8, 2009, all other countries are current. EB3 professional and skilled
workers. China's on June 22, 2016, India is June 1, 2009, all other countries are April
15, 2018. EB3, other workers. China July 22, 2008, India June 1, 2009, all other countries
are April 15, 2018. EB4, we have to distinguish El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras February
1, 2017, Mexico June 15, 2018, all other countries are current. And EB5 China's July 22, 2015,
India's current, Vietnam is on May 15, 2017, and all other countries are current. Alright.
So, now, let's go into… let's look at the dates for filing. Cut off dates for July 2020,
which is a little bit different. With China EB1, China is November 1, 2017. India is August
1, 2017, all other countries are current. EB2 dates for filing, China August 1, 2016,
India August 15, 2009, all other countries are current. EB3 professional and skilled
workers, China March 1, 2017, India February 1, 2010, all other countries are April 1,
2018. EB3 other workers, China August 1, 2008, India February 1, 2010, all other countries
April 1, 2019. EB4, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras May 1, 2017, all other countries
remain current. And China for EB5 December 15, 2015, all other countries remain current.
Alright. So, this is the chart for dates for filing the cutoff
date. So, as you can see in the July 2020 visa bulletin, there's quite a backlog in
the family category, as well as employment. We've seen some minor advancements, as we
described specifically for countries like India and China. But overall, we don't see
too much of a big difference from the visa bulletin that was released in June. Let's
talk about some of the visa bulletin July 2020 predictions. So, there's been some good
movement in the family category, as well as employment, even though it's been only a few
weeks, but there's still been good movement. In the family categories, we haven't seen
anything that will cause any retrogression, which is great news. The State Department
reports that there continues to be a very, very high demand for visas specifically in
the fourth category family division from citizens of Mexico. If this trend continues, we may
see a retrogression in this category. If we look at the employment-based, EB5 category
for India is now current, which is amazing because it's been a backlog for a while. And
now, citizens of India, their dates are current and are able to proceed with their applications.
So, that's amazing. People always ask, “Can you shorten the wait time from the visa bulletin
categories?” Well, the general answer is no, you cannot shorten the wait time. The
visa bulletin is released every month and you have to fall your category and based on
that you'll be able to cross a new case. However, if you are in a green card process, for example,
let's say you have an EB2 green card based on employment. If your priority date is current,
and you file for your I-140, you can pay a premium processing fee to the USCIS and your
case can be processed in two weeks instead of waiting six to eight months. So, that's
one way to speed up the process. Premium processing is not applicable for all applications. It's
applicable for some of them. So, in some cases, you can do that. But that's kind of in a way…
it's not a way to bypass the visa bulletin, it's just a way to speed up the process of
waiting for your green card to be processed faster. So, that's just one way to do it.
But overall, you have to wait for your priority date to become current, and then go from there.
So, what you need to do right now? What you have to do is stay up to date. Follow the
visa bulletin every month, watch our videos, stay in the know, understand which visa bulletin
controls in the USCIS. Make sure you understand if there's a way to speed up your case and
move forward. Most importantly, follow the news as well to make sure, to see if there's
any things that can change the process of application, if there's any executive orders
that can impact your case, immigration law is being really crazy these days, and so many
changes, and we try to keep you updated every single day. So, thank you for watching. And
will see you in our next video.