OPT to Green Card Transition During Retrogression

I'm in the US under an OPT, can I adjust my status and get a green card? Does retrogression change anything for me?

Yes. So that's a little more complicated question that doesn't refer to the final action date chart, but refers to the date for filing charges. So just like a nurse who's offshore, you get a priority date by filing an I-140. So that's your priority date. However, you cannot file the 45 until you become current under the date for filing chart. Right now, the date for filing chart for rest of the world is February 1 2023. Philippines January 1 2023.

A little context with the two charts, the final action date chart as we lead with at the beginning, move forward 17, 18, 19 months, the date for filing chart actually retrogressed. So the date for filing chart for rest of the world retrogressed to about three months, and Philippines about four months. So you cannot file your 45 until your priority date becomes current under the date for filing charges.

Okay. Now, there's one other little caveat. Each month, the department state puts out these two bulletins, the final action date for filing. However, the USCIS then ultimately decides whether it will honor the date for filing chart or whether it will use the final action date chart, the date for filing charges, always ahead of the final action date chart. So you need to look both places, you need to look at what's the date for filing chart, say. And then you have to go to the USCIS website and look and see which chart they're honoring.

So for October, they're honoring the date for filing chart. So if you have a priority date, if your case was filed sometime in 2022, and you're from the Philippines, you're eligible to file your 45 Now the reality is that's probably not the case, because we were eligible to file 45 Here in the US up until May. So the reality is I think the because the dates retrogressive probably no one who's getting to file a new 45 Right now in October based upon the chart. So we need some more forward movement in the date for filing chart to protect the US workers or the US grads, new new grads.