The Department of State’s Visa Bulletin for the month of October 2019 reflects substantial forward movement as anticipated with the beginning of the federal fiscal year on October 1, 2019. Specifically, only the EB-1 preference category as well as India and China-born applicants remain backlogged for the dates that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will accept applications during the month of October 2019.

In a departure from recent months, USCIS also confirmed on its website that beneficiaries of employment-based immigrant petitions could use the “Dates for Filing” for filing adjustment of status applications during the month of October 2019. In the recent past, USCIS had generally required employment-based adjustment of status applications to be filed based on the Final Action Dates, which were typically later than the Dates for Filing.

Although USCIS will accept applications during the month of October, an applicant’s Final Action Dates, or priority dates, must become Current before USCIS may approve the case.

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