The January 2023 Visa Bulletin has been issued, and as warned in prior Visa Bulletins, the Department of State is imposing final action and application filing dates for China and India in Employment First Preference. Applicants from China and India are subject to a final action date of February 01, 2022 and an application filing date of June 01, 2022. Department of State advises that immigrant visa number usage will be continually monitored, and any necessary adjustments will be made accordingly, noting that Increased demand and number use in the Employment First category, combined with decreased visa number availability for FY-2023 compared to FY-2022, necessitated the change.
U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services advises that, for all employment-based preference categories, applicants must use the Dates for Filing chart in the Department of State Visa Bulletin for January 2023. For all family-sponsored preference categories, applicants also must use the Dates for Filing chart.
In the current December 2022 Visa Bulletin, Department of State established worldwide Employment Second Preference final action and application filing dates to hold number use within the maximum allowed under the FY-2023 annual limit.
Department of State predicts the estimated employment-based annual limit will be 197,000 for FY-2023.