USCIS released the upcoming visa bulletin for October 2023 last Friday, September 15th, for all categories. This is the very first bulletin for fiscal year 2024 (FY24) and we can see that there are advancements across a majority of employment-based visa categories. For the first time in a long time, USCIS will finally use the ‘Dates for Filing’ chart in October as they deem currently that there are more immigrant visas available for the fiscal year versus the number of known applicants.

With the release of the October 2023 visa bulletin, many employment-based immigrant applicants may have noticed that the EB-3 category has advanced more than the EB-2 category by a few months. This opens up the opportunity for eligible EB-3 and downgraded EB-2 applicants to file Form I-485 along with their travel document and work permit application earlier.

In order to file a downgrade application, the EB-2 applicants must:

1. Have an approved EB-2 PERM and I-140.
2. Work for the same employer who originally filed the EB-2 PERM and I-140.

Those interested in a downgrade (with the exception of NIW applicants) must apply ASAP to take advantage of the October visa bulletin filing dates as the ‘Dates for Filing’ chart may not be available for the future months. This can be a strategically beneficial process that allows you to cut the wait time in filing for the green card, especially if the applicant’s priority date is already “current” in the EB-3 category then they are eligible to apply for their green card immediately.

If you would like to learn more about the EB-2 to EB-3 downgrade process, please feel free to click here and reach out to us.