The U.S. Department of State (DOS) released the October 2023 Visa Bulletin.1 Historically speaking, the October Visa Bulletin has announced dramatic advancement in immigrant priority dates. However, there was little movement this year. Most employment-based categories saw modest advancement, and the EB-1 category for Indian and Chinese nationals remains back-logged.
The October Visa Bulletin usually reflects the biggest advancement in the visa cut-off numbers. This is because October marks the beginning of a new government fiscal year and also dictates the allocation and availability of visas for prospective immigrants. The beginning of the fiscal year resets the quotas for various categories of green cards for both the family-sponsored and employment-based applications.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) confirmed that it will use the Dates for Filing chart.2