Summary of Dec 2022 Visa Bulletin

The U.S. Department of State released its Green Card Visa Bulletin for December 2022. That’s a big deal if you’re waiting for your priority date to be current so that your green card application can move forward

Employment-based categories:

1. The “Dates for filing” table will apply to the December Visa Bulletin.
2. USCIS estimates an annual limit of 197,000 green cards for the Fiscal Year 2023. The estimated number is an outcome of numbers under the family-based category that remain unused in the previous fiscal year (approximately 57000), which will become part of the employment-based type in the current fiscal. In comparison, the annual limit for new green cards for FY2023 under the employment-based category is 281,507. The overflow from the previous year will soon disappear as consulates abroad start clearing the backlogs.
3. If we look at the EB-1, there is an increase in demand, leading to the establishment of cutoff dates. The current bulletin shows that visas are available for citizens from every country of origin, but the Department of state predicts a retrogression in the coming months EB-1 India and China.
4. In the December 2022 visa bulletin, we notice a retrogression for EB-2 for India and others, and this is quite surprising from the perspective of others as they have been ” current” for some time. The dates for Indian nationals were previously April 11, 2012, and the new date is Oct 8,2011, this is precisely six months. On the other hand, the ” Application filling date” for EB-2 India remains the same when we compare the same with the Nov 2022 bulletin. If we look at the current bulletin, both the “final action dates” and the ” Application filing date” remain the same for Chinese nationals if we compare the same with the previous bulletin.
5. EB-3 category in the December visa bulletin. Visas continue to be available for worldwide nationals in the EB-3 category. For India, the Final Action Dates advanced by more than two months to June 15, 2012. The Dates for filing moved from July 1, 2012, in November to August 1, 2012, in December 2022 visa bulletin. For China, in the Final Action Dates, the cutoff date advanced to August 1, 2018, and the Application Filing Date went to September 1, 2018. In both charts, modest but welcomed movement forward

Family-based categories:

In the December 2022 visa bulletin, we see no movement in the “Final Action Date” or “the dates for filing” for Family-Sponsored cases. The dates remain unchanged from the November 2022 visa bulletin. A family Based Green Card visa is immediately available for Spouses and Children of Permanent Residents, and the dates are current for all countries. here you can read Green card Questions That matter in 2023 .