USCIS has announced that beginning with the November 2015 Department of State (DOS) Visa Bulletin it will issue a determination within approximately one week following the publication of the Visa Bulletin whether individuals may use the Dates for Filing Visa Applications chart. If USCIS does not post such a determination, individuals should continue to refer exclusively to the Application Final Action Date chart on the USCIS website. This monthly announcement from USCIS can be found at www.uscis.gov/visabulletininfo.
The Visa Bulletin is published on a monthly basis by DOS and indicates when statutorily limited visas are available to prospective immigrants based on their individual priority date. In the employment-based Adjustment of Status context, the priority date is generally the date when the labor certification (PERM) was accepted for processing by the Department of Labor, or, if no labor certification was required, then the date of filing of the Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker. When an immigrant visa is available, eligible individuals may submit their Form I-485, Adjustment of Status application.
Jackson Lewis will provide updates on any new policies from the Department of State and USCIS on the Visa Bulletin.