In this video, we'll talk about the August 2020 visa bulletin. Today is Monday, July
20. And the visa bulletin finally came out. It took forever. Everybody's waiting for it.
So in this video, I'll break down the significant movements in certain categories and what to
expect next. So, what are you waiting for? I'll see you on the other side. In this video,
we'll talk about the August 2020 visa bulletin. It finally came out and we’ve all been waiting
for it because as you know, as we come to the end of the fiscal year, October, everybody's
anxious about visa movements, what's going to happen with priority dates, and what's
going to happen with the remaining visas left in the fiscal year. So in this video, we'll
talk about… I'm going to break down the family section. So, we'll talk about the family
categories, F1, F2A, F2B. We’ll kind of go through each one of them. And then, we're
also going to make some predictions. And of course, I'm going to go through the employment-based
and look at some numbers. There's definitely been some movement, and people that are stuck
overseas and are not able to come so visa numbers are definitely decreasing. So, we
want to know what's going to happen with those visa numbers that are not being used, are
they actually going to put them into the general pool some of the predictions that we have.
So, let's dive right in. But before that, 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. And as well as click that like so YouTube is going to recommend our videos
to people just like you who want to be able to get this information. Once again, if you’re
here for the first time, my name is Jacob Sapochnik and I'm an immigration attorney
located in San Diego, California, and I represent clients in all 50 states. And of course, whenever
there are breaking news and things for you to know, we are here for you to make those
videos. So, let's jump right into the visa bulletin. And in fact, let me pull… let
me start with the employment-based one. So, if you look at the employment-based categories
at a glance, you can see that EB1 China advanced almost six months to February 8, 2018, EB1
India advanced nine months, that’s a lot, to the same date. If you look at EB2 China,
it advanced by more than two months to January 15, 2016. And EB2 India remained the same
at July 8, 2009. EB3 worldwide, which is important as well for those of the nurses that are coming
in here, almost one year to, that's huge, huge advancement, to April 1 2019. And EB3
China advanced by almost eight months to February 15, 2017, as well as EB3 India, advanced four
months, [inaudible] four months to October 1, 2009. EB5 China, of course, advanced two
weeks to almost August 8, 2015, which is quite significant, as well as EB5 Vietnam advanced
by more than two months to July 22, 2017. So, these are definitely, definitely significant
advancements. In this video, I'm focusing mostly on the final action dates in the visa
bulletin because these dates are most relevant for understanding when applicants will eventually
receive their green cards. And, as of now, we're not sure if USCIS is good To choose
final action dates or dates for filing for employment-based cases that will be determined
probably the next few days because today, we've done the video as soon as they come
out, and I'll make sure to update you on how Adjustment of Status inside the United States
is going to take place. As you can see, the major, major changes in employment-based categories,
EB3, advanced of more than a year, and EB1 for about six months or so. So, that's huge.
And again, it's very difficult to get more predictions but maybe because less people
are coming in, there may be more visas available. So, we will be expecting to see more advancement
and more movement in employment-based categories as well in the September visa bulletin, hopefully.
So, let's see what's happening in the family bulletin as well. Once again, in the family
categories, we're looking at the final action dates. For the purpose of this video, this
is the one that is important to look, most likely, our people are going to be able to
get their green cards from. So, let's look at what's happening here. F2A remains current
as well for August. So, what that means is that spouses of green card holders and children
under 21 if they are inside the United States, they are eligible to process their Adjustment
of Status. This has been current for the past several months, and we expect that to remain
current as well for September. And again, a lot of people who were able to enter the
US before all bans are now able to benefit as long as they’re in legal status to file
for their significant others. If you're looking at F2B category, so for example, if you look
at the Philippines, last month we were on January 1, 2011. F2B right now for the Philippines
is April 1, 2011. So, we have a nice three months movement. If you look at F3 for the
Philippines, so in July, we were on August 15, 2001. And now, we are on November 15,
2001. So, we definitely have a slight movement there, a few months. And for F4, the Philippines
was on June 1, 2001. And now, we are in September 2001. So, definitely three, four months advanced
movement, some modest movement, not as much as on employment-based but we definitely are
grateful that F2A category is still current. And again, people are waiting. And we know
that people are waiting and people are anxious about it. But this is definitely a steady
movement and the prediction of the State Department is that movement, steady movement will continue
to progress as we enter into September, and October, maybe some big surprises in October.
But this is what we have right now in the family chart as we see it in the August 2020
bulletin. So, the visa bulletin is really bringing an important source for you to understand
when you can actually immigrate. So, we always tell our clients, as you continue to follow
the visa bulletin, make sure you prepare all your documents, be ready for when the priority
becomes current. As you can see, sometimes, the dates jump even by a year as we've seen
it, that happened in the employment category this month in the EB3. So, some of these nurses
that were waiting, we have a lot of clients in that category as well. If you don't have
your documents ready, it could be essentially devastating because if you're not ready to
file in the month when your priority date is current, if you miss that, next month,
there could be a retrogression, visas can go backwards, and you miss the boat. So, we
always tell people, make sure you prepare all the documents as you continue to follow
the visa bulletin so when the dates become current, you're not going to miss the boat
and fail to file documents on time. How are the current proclamations impacting the visa
bulletin? Well, as you know, embassies are not issuing visas for many, many categories.
So, where in the past, before we had that kind of ban, people were coming to the US
Embassy in order. So, if you have Fiancé Visa filed, if you are a spouse of a green
card holder, you go to the embassy at your current priority date is current when the
visa is available when the embassy is open, and you can get a visa. Well, right now, embassies
are closed. We've got two proclamations that were extended through December so many, many
people are not able to get visas, and their priority date really mean nothing. So, if
you are current, but you're not able to come to the United States because your embassy
is closed, or because you're barred, then essentially, you're missing out on your visa
number and you have to wait. What's happening with those visa numbers? Well, currently,
it's really hard to say. They may be overflow to some visas, into people that are currently
in the United States. Again, we’re hoping that this overflow of visas will create less
of a backlog. I mean, at least something. So, we'll see. And but again, there's some
indication that it is actually happening, especially in the employment-based categories.
So we'll see. But of course, we still remain worried. We have a lot of clients that are
stuck overseas, and they are waiting for their interviews. We'll continue to do videos to
update people on how to apply, when to apply, when embassies are going to reopen, and what
to do when that happens. But again, keep following the visa bulletin. Make sure your priority
date is current. And when that happens, keep in touch with your US embassy and see… some
of you may qualify for exemptions to be able to come so it's really important to stay in
touch with your attorney and monitor the situation every single month. So, we'll continue to
provide updates for the visa bulletin every single month. And if you have any questions,
make sure you post them in the comments below. Once again, please subscribe to our channel.
We'll make sure to provide videos like this every single week. Click the bell to be notified
of any videos that we release. And let me know in the comments if you have any questions
about the visa bulletin for August, and what are the main concerns that you have about
your immigration case. So, once again, thank you for watching. I am Jacob and I'll see
you in our next video.