The U.S. Department of State has released its April 2024 Visa Bulletin imposing per-country cut-off dates that regulate immigrant visa availability and the flow of Adjustment of Status (AOS) applications and consular Immigrant Visa application filings and approvals. In order to be “current,” the priority date held by a person applying for permanent residence must be before the cut-off date specified in the monthly Visa Bulletin.
To be eligible to file an Employment-Based (EB) AOS application, a foreign national must have a priority date that is earlier than the date listed below for his or her preference category and country of chargeability. The “C” listing indicates that the category is current and that applications may be filed with any priority date.
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services has indicated that the Final Action Dates chart must be used for the April 2024 Visa Bulletin. Final Action Dates also controlled in March, but Dates for Filing controlled in January and February.
The April Visa Bulletin imposes an advanced India EB-1 cutoff date of March 1, 2021 (a jump of five months). EB-1 China’s cut-off date has moved to September 1, 2022. EB-1 cut-off dates for the Rest of the World, Mexico, and Philippines remain current. The Rest of the World, Mexico, and Philippines EB-2 cut-off dates have moved to January 15, 2023. EB-2 India’s cut-off date has moved forward modestly to April 1, 2012, and EB-2 China’s cut-off date has moved forward by a month to February 1, 2020. All EB-3 categories remain backlogged, with the EB-3 category for the Rest of the World now at a more favorable November 22, 2022, China EB-3 unchanged at September 1, 2020, and India EB-3 at a slightly more favorable August 15, 2012.
Final Action Dates Chart Will Control in April 2024
The Visa Bulletin includes both a Dates for Filing chart and a Final Action Dates chart. The Final Action Dates chart indicates when a priority date is current and I-485 AOS applications or Immigrant Visa applications may be approved and permanent residence granted. The Dates for Filing chart, when followed by USCIS, indicates when intending immigrants may file their AOS applications with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
Each month, USCIS chooses to either follow the Final Action or the Dates for Filing chart. For April 2024, as noted above, the USCIS will follow the Final Action Dates for Employment-Based AOS application filings. Thus, those seeking to file applications for AOS with the USCIS in April 2024 must use the chart for the Final Action Dates shown below.
T&S Takeaway
The April Visa Bulletin is the first one for the second calendar quarter of the year and includes the forward cut-off date movement we had predicted and seems to confirm the State Department’s plan to implement such changes on a quarterly basis. The commentary by the State Department on this forward movement is a prediction that very little or no forward cut-off date movement is expected in the “coming months” for EB cut-off dates.
The attorneys of Tafapolsky & Smith LLP will monitor and analyze all developments affecting immigrant visa availability, including all statements made by DOS officers before the publication of the relevant Visa Bulletin and will provide immediate updates on any significant developments.
