The U.S. Department of State has released its October 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 Dates for Filing chart must be used for the October 2024 Visa Bulletin. The Final Action Dates chart controlled from March 2024 to September 2024.

Compared to the September 2024 Visa Bulletin’s Dates for Filing chart, the October Visa Bulletin’s Dates for Filing chart retains the EB-1 cut-off date for China of 01/01/2023 and visas remain immediately available for EB-1 Rest of World, Mexico, and Philippines. EB-1 India moves forward slightly to 04/15/2022 and the EB-2 and EB-3 India categories advance by several months to 01/01/2013 and 06/08/2013, respectively. The EB-2 categories for Rest of World, Mexico, and Philippines move forward approximately four months to 08/01/2023 and EB-2 China moves forward four months to 10/01/2020. The EB-3 categories for Rest of World, Mexico, and Philippines also move forward to 03/01/2023. Notably, EB-3 China retrogresses by approximately seven months to 11/15/2020 under the Dates for Filing chart. However, by utilizing the Dates for Filing information to allow filings for adjustment of status, the October 2024 visa bulletin should still be favorable for many foreign national employees waiting to file their green card applications in the U.S.

The Final Action Dates chart permits the government to approve AOS applications and immigrant visas that are in process. In October 2024, the Final Action Dates chart remains unchanged for Rest of World, India, Mexico, and Philippines in the EB-1 and EB-2 categories. EB-2 India still holds at 07/15/2012. There is slight forward movement in EB-1 China to 11/08/2022; EB-2 China to 03/22/2020; and EB-3 India to 11/01/2012. The EB-3 category for Rest of World, Mexico, and Philippines moves forward significantly, approximately two years, to 11/15/2022. EB-3 China retrogresses five months to 04/01/2020.

Dates for Filing Chart Will Control in October 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 either to follow the Final Action or the Dates for Filing chart. For October 2024, as noted above, the USCIS will follow the Dates for Filing for Employment-Based AOS application filings.  Thus, those seeking to file applications for AOS with the USCIS in October 2024 must use the chart for the Dates for Filing shown below.

FY 2024 EB-2 Category Exhaustion

The United States Department of State (DOS) also recently announced the exhaustion of all available immigrant visas in the Employment-Based Second Preference (EB-2) category for the 2024 fiscal year, which ends on September 30, 2024. This announcement follows the agency’s previous notifications that immigrant visas in the EB-1, EB-3, EW (other workers), EB-4, and EB-5 (unreserved) have been similarly exhausted for this fiscal year, FY 2024. The annual limits are reset on October 1, 2024 in the new fiscal year FY 2025 pursuant to the updated Visa Bulletin discussed above. On that date, consulates may continue processing immigrant visas abroad and USCIS may resume adjudicating adjustment of status (AOS) applications. Although AOS applications in the above-referenced employment-based categories cannot be approved until after October 1st, USCIS should continue accepting applications through the end of September if the applicant’s priority date is current under the Final Action Dates chart published on the September 2024 Visa Bulletin.

T&S Takeaway

Final Action Dates: Other than a near-two-year jump in the EB-3 category for Rest of World, Mexico, and Philippines, there is modest forward movement or no movement in the October 2024 Visa Bulletin’s Final Action Dates chart for EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3 category, allowing these individuals’ AOS application to be approved or immigrant visas to be processed. However, EB-3 China surprisingly retrogresses by approximately five months at the start of this new fiscal year.

Dates for Filing: USCIS will use the Dates for Filing chart in October to determine when applicants are eligible to submit AOS applications. Because it is no longer relying upon the Final Action Dates chart, this decision should allow more individuals to be eligible to apply for green cards starting next month as compared to September 2024. However, unlike prior years when the October bulletin indicated larger leaps forward in certain categories, the current October 2024 Visa Bulletin reflects retrogression of EB-3 China and moderate forward movement in other categories, even under the Dates for Filing chart.

The attorneys of Tafapolsky & Smith LLP will monitor and analyze all developments affecting immigrant visa availability, including all statements made by State Department officers before the publication of the relevant Visa Bulletin and will provide immediate updates on any significant developments.