Changes to the October 2015 Visa Bulletin causes confusion...
On September 9, 2015, the U.S. Dept. of State surprised lots of people by publishing its October Visa Bulletin with 2 different columns and dates used to determine when a visa applicant can apply for lawful permanent residency.
(See previous blog on the new process for determining filing dates for lawful permanent residency. In a nutshell, the new process allows applicants to file their applications prior to the actual 'Priority Date' being current.)
A mere 16 days later, it issued a mea culpa in the form of a new revised October 2015 Visa Bulletin with revised filing dates. Evidently, erroneous information was used to determine the appropriate 'filing dates' for certain immigrant visa preference categories.
As a consequence, the October Visa Bulletin published on September 25, 2015 reflected revised filing dates - particularly for the EB-2 China and India categories - that were not nearly as generous as the original Visa Bulletin published on September 9. (The EB-2 category for China moved backwards nearly 1 year; the EB-2 category for India moved backwards 2 years. The EB-3 category for the Philippines moved backwards 5 years.)
Unfortunately, for prospective immigrants who were excitedly preparing their immigrant visa applications, the amended filing dates proved to be a huge letdown. A lawsuit - Mehta v. DOS, in the Western District of Washington - sought class-action status to compel the U.S. Dept. of State to accept applications filed pursuant to the original October Visa Bulletin published on September 9, 2015. A motion for a Temporary Restraining Order ('TRO') - in effect restraining the implementation of the revised October 2015 Visa Bulletin - was denied, and the case is still pending.
Since then, the November 2015 Visa Bulletin has been published - with very little movement in those categories; and the December 2015 Visa Bulletin should be published in the next week or so -
for now... the wait continues...
