The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs’ July 2023 Visa Bulletin continues to demonstrate a trend of backlogs in the employment-based immigrant visa process.

Quick Hits

• The EB-3 final action date for India will retrogress from June 15, 2012, to January 1, 2009.

• The EB-3 final action dates for Rest of World countries, Mexico, and the Philippines will retrogress from June 1, 2022, to February 1, 2022.

While the chart below indicates that EB-1/EB-2 final action dates will remain the same in the July 2023 Visa Bulletin as they were in the June 2023 Visa Bulletin, the current update continues a recent trend of retrogressions and slowdowns, which continue to contribute to the significant backlogs in the employment-based visa process.

Source: U.S. Department of State, July 2023 Visa Bulletin

The State Department also noted in the July 2023 Visa Bulletin that EB-3 priority dates from India, Mexico, the Philippines, and Rest of World countries continue to exceed projected demand in 2023, and that further retrogression may be needed before the federal government’s new fiscal year begins on October 1, 2023.