EB2 Priority dates question.

[Janitor]

 

Category : EB2

Completed 6 years in US on H1B and was out of US for the last 3.5 years

Country of Chargebility: UAE/ROW

Hello folks,

I have an approved 1i40 petition from December 2018 (which was approved while I was in India) but have been unable to apply for I 485 since I was not in the US  as I did not have an H1b extension.  My priority date is May 2018 which was current all this while until July 2019 but it got retrogressed as per August Bulletin. 

Now there are 2 charts in the visa bulletin - i) Final Action Dates and ii) Dates of Filing. I was told I would not be able to file my i485 unless my dates become current. As per the latest bulletin, the dates are showing as current in the "Dates of Filing" chart but not in the 'Final Action Dates chart'. Can someone tell me if I can still go and apply/submit my I485 application? The USCIS website says under the "Dates of filing" chart --

 

"Applicants for immigrant visas who have a priority date earlier than the application date in the chart may assemble and submit required documents to the Department of State’s National Visa Center, following receipt of notification from the National Visa Center containing detailed instructions. "

 

Thanks

[my2239]

Hi

It appears you would qualify under EB2 Rest of world

The Visa Bulletin for September shows that the Dates of Filing for Rest of World category, EB2 is 01 Jan 2018

The following US government website also shows that for September visa bulletin, you need to use Dates of Filing for Employment cases

https://www.uscis.gov/visabulletininfo

Since your Priority Date is May 2018, you cannot apply yet

You will need to wait for your priority date to be current

Also you may be able to pursue Consular processing if you are not likely to be in USA when your priority date is current.

While this option has the benefit of not needing to be in the USA, it has the disadvantage of losing out on benefits like EAD, AP

Just FYI

Wishing you the best

[care_candidate]

Each month, USCIS publish two charts and they specify which chart to use for which category,  Employment based and Family based. You can find that here,

https://www.uscis.gov/visabulletininfo

According to latest information for August 2019 as well as September 2019, you will have to use "Final action chart". For your case, EB-2 UAE/ROW, PD is at January 1, 2018, which is about 12 months behind your PD. So, you cannot apply.

Also, when you are eligible to apply, follow "Counselor Processing" if you are applying from outside of US, or "Adjustment of Status" if you are applying from within US.