Can you file your I-485 Adjustment Application before your priority date is current?

Yesterday, September 9, 2015, the Department of State and USCIS jointly announced new procedures that will allow individuals who are stuck in the immigrant visa backlogs to start their immigrant visa paperwork or apply for adjustment of status before their priority date becomes current and an immigrant visa becomes immediately available.

Beginning with the October Visa Bulletin, there are now two charts listing dates for each preference category and country of chargeability: (1) An “Application Final Action Dates” chart (“Final Action Date”); and (2) a “Dates for Filing Applications” chart (“Filing Date”). USCIS has also issued a fact sheet describing the new procedures. Previously, the Visa Bulletin only listed a single chart of cut-off dates, which was the same as the newly labeled “Final Action Date” chart. These changes will impact immigrant visa applicants and adjustment of status applicants as follows:

  • Immigrant Visa Applicants (Consular Processing): Individuals with priority dates earlier than the date listed on the “Filing Date” chart for their preference category and country of chargeability will be notified by the National Visa Center that they may assemble and submit their documentation and begin the immigrant visa application process. However, a final decision on the immigrant visa application cannot take place until the priority date is current.
  • Adjustment of Status Applicants: Individuals who are in the United States and are eligible for adjustment of status must use the “Final Action Date” chart to determine when they may submit their applications for adjustment of status, unless the Visa Bulletin indicates that they may instead use the “Filing Date” chart. The early “Filing Date” chart may only be used by adjustment applicants if USCIS determines there are sufficient immigrant visas available to support the filing of additional adjustment applications beyond that which would be received under the “Final Action Date” chart.The October 2015 Visa Bulletin permits family-based immigrants to use the “Filing Date” chart to file adjustment of status applications with USCIS for the month of October. Individuals who have a priority date earlier than the “Filing Date” cut-off for the month of October may submit an adjustment of status application in October. These individuals will also be able to obtain employment authorization and advance parole as an adjustment applicant.  It is important to note that there is no guarantee that adjustment applicants will be able to benefit from the earlier “Filing Date” chart in any given month moving forward.

If you have questions, please call me to discuss your case specifics to determine if and how you many benefit from this new policy.

President Obama Announces Executive Action on Immigration

Infographic: President Obama Is Taking Steps to Fix Our Broken Immigration System

From the President’s address this evening (link to full transcript below):

“Are we a nation that tolerates the hypocrisy of a system where workers who pick our fruit and make our beds never have a chance to get right with the law? Or are we a nation that gives them a chance to make amends, take responsibility, and give their kids a better future?

Are we a nation that accepts the cruelty of ripping children from their parents’ arms? Or are we a nation that values families, and works to keep them together?

Are we a nation that educates the world’s best and brightest in our universities, only to send them home to create businesses in countries that compete against us? Or are we a nation that encourages them to stay and create jobs, businesses, and industries right here in America?

That’s what this debate is all about. We need more than politics as usual when it comes to immigration; we need reasoned, thoughtful, compassionate debate that focuses on our hopes, not our fears.”

Read the full speech here.