According to the Department of State Visa Bulletin, the employment-based Final Action cutoff dates would advance in May 2021. The USCIS has announced it will honor the “Final Action Dates” for all the employment-based Adjustment of Status applications, which means the USCIS will keep the “Dates for Filing” closed in May 2021. The EB-2 and EB-3 Final Action dates for countries except China and India are still current. The details of May 2021 Final Action dates are as below:
Final Action Dates of EB-1: All countries including China and India remain “current”.
Final Action Dates of EB-2: China has moved forward from 09/01/2016 to 12/01/2016 (3 months); India has moved forward from 05/01/2010 to 08/01/2010 (3 months).
Final Action Dates of EB-3: China has moved forward from 03/15/2018 to 05/15/2018 (2 months); India has moved forward from 09/01/2010 to 02/01/2011 (5 months).
Final Action Dates of EB-5: China remains unchanged on 08/15/2015.
Projections for Employment-Based Allocations In 2020, because of the pandemic and the suspension of normal visa operations, there were 122,000 unused family-based visas being added into the FY2021 employment-based allocation, causing the employment-based allocation for FY2021 to be 262,000 (140,000+122,000), which is the highest employment-based allocation on record. As we have already seen, the employment-based cut-off dates advanced quickly at the beginning of FY 2021. The FY2022 family-based visa numbers are predicted to be at least 226,000, and the employment-based visa numbers are predicted to be at least 275,000. According to the DOS projections, EB-2 and EB-3 Final Action dates for China and India may advance as quickly as last year. However, actual cut-off dates advancement in each month will be subject to fluctuation, change, and also the number of pending cases by the USCIS.