How should EB-5 investors read the visa bulletin?

USCIS decides which chart you can use on a monthly basis. When you check the Visa Bulletin, check the USCIS link there.

Adjustment applicants need to look at the final action dates chart. The dates of filing chart shows the earliest the consulate will begin to accept documents, but then you need to wait for the priority date to become current per chart A.

Chart B is sometimes used for filing an adjustment. This usually occurs in the first few months of the fiscal year, such as October or November. In the Visa Bulletin there is a link to USCIS which explains whether you can use Chart A or Chart B for adjustment. Chart B is to let one know that the case is getting ready for final interview. Chart A is when a visa is actually available.

You should have your immigration attorney advise you about developments concerning the Visa Bulletin.

Reading the Visa Bulletin can be a challenge. First of all, the dates both on Charts A and B can fluctuate significantly from one month to another, depending upon a variety of factors. But more importantly is the visa demand from a country of your nationality, which in this case is India. Chart A is a date for which employment-based EB-5 case can be approved because visa numbers are available. Chart B is a date of which, under certain conditions, you could file somewhat sooner, when visa numbers are available through the National Visa Center and by adjustment of status in the U.S. Obviously, in the case of Indian nationals, essentially what this means is you can file your case, based upon the fact that India is current under the fifth preference for that purpose. But you could not be scheduled for your final interview unless and until you had a current priority date that would be one prior to the date set forth in Chart A.

Theoretically Chart B tells you when I-485 petitions are acceptable. But what really matters is when a visa number is actually available to you (Chart A).

This seems to be a common cause for confusion. Chart A is called the Final Action (FA) Chart, and Chart B is called the Dates Of Filing (DF) Chart. For all practical purposes, you need to use the less favorable Chart A, which is the Final Action Chart. That said, the date that was published for the August bulletin, Oct. 15, 2014, will be revised in a couple of months when the new quotas will be allocated. That date should move much closer to the one that was published in July this year, which was May 1, 2017.

Each month USCIS determines which chart applies for the following month. Typically for employment-based cases, it is the final action date chart.

Currently, USCIS decides which chart you are allowed to use.