On June 16, 2021, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) posted the July 2021 visa bulletin, which announces the availability of immigrant visas for various categories of applicants. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is currently using the Final Action Dates to determine filing criteria for employment-based adjustment of status applications, which is how intending immigrants in the U.S. change their status from nonimmigrant to legal permanent resident (LPR). To be eligible to file an adjustment application, foreign nationals must have a priority date that is earlier than the cut-off date for their preference category and country. For first-preference (EB-1) applicants, all countries are current and eligible to file. For second-preference (EB-2), the cut-off date for China is December 1, 2017, and the cut-off date for India is June 1, 2011. This represents an advancement of approximately six months from the cut-off dates in the June 2021 visa bulletin. For third-preference (EB-3) professionals and skilled workers, the cut-off date for China is January 1, 2019—a four-month advancement—and the cut-off date for India is January 1, 2013—a 14-month advancement. For all other countries, EB-2 and EB-3 immigrant visas are currently available. 

The visa bulletin for July 2021 also reflects the end of the EB-5 regional center program, as immigrant visas for that classification are unavailable. Unless reauthorized by Congress through legislation, the regional center program expires on June 30, 2021. For non-regional center EB-5 applicants, all countries are current except for Vietnam—with a cut-off date of April 1, 2020—and China, with a cut-off date of November 8, 2015.

Family-based applicants for adjustment of status must use the Dates for Filing chart published by DOS, except for the F2A category (spouses and minor children of LPRs), which is current and available for all countries.