USCIS Sets September 2024 Adjustment of Status Filing Charts For the Visa Bulletin
Categories: Citizenship , USCIS
With the U.S. Department of State (“DOS”)’s publication of its September 2024 visa bulletin, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has decided that it will continue to use the Final Action Dates for Employment-Based Adjustment of Status Applications table. Meanwhile, USCIS also decided to continue to follow the Dates for Filing for Family-Sponsored Adjustment of Status Applications table. Please refer to the sections below for specific discussions about the visa availability date movements and trends under both the employment-based immigrant visa petitions, as well as the family-based immigrant visa petitions.
Employment-based Immigrant Visa Categories:
- Starting with the March 2024 visa bulletin, USCIS has been using the Final Action Dates Table for Adjustment of Status applications. As noted in earlier visa bulletin analysis, the U.S. Department of State has done its best to keep visa issuance within quarterly limits and in accordance with INA. That is how they have been able to maintain the visa numbers for eligible users each month by being extra vigilant and not let the visa numbers get used up prematurely.
Nevertheless, the steady increase in both USCIS and Department of State demand for employment-based visas during this past fiscal year means that most employment-based preference category limits for FY 2024 are expected to be reached during September, if not sooner. In fact, if at any time an annual limit were reached, it would be necessary for the Department of State to immediately make the preference category ‘unavailable’, and no further requests for visa numbers would be honored.
And as predicted in the earlier July and August 2024 visa bulletin announcements, it has become necessary for Department of State to retrogress the EB-3 final action dates for Rest of the World, Mexico, and the Philippines, as well as the EW Final Action dates for Rest of the World and Mexico back to December 1, 2020. The Department of State does expect the final action dates will advance in the new FY 2025 October 2024 visa bulletin. But even then, the date movement will depend on the worldwide demand for EB-3 and EW visas and the estimated FY 2025 category limits.
Meanwhile, the final action dates for India and China remain unchanged in September 2024.
- Employment-based first preference category (EB-1) (in the Final Action Dates table):
- There was no change in the EB-1 cutoff dates for August. For India, the visa availability date remains on February 1, 2022.
- China’s visa cutoff date also remains on November 1, 2022. There has been no movement there since the June 2024 visa bulletin, when it was on September 1, 2022.
- Meanwhile, for ‘World’, and Mexico, and Philippines, EB-1 is still Current/Available.
- Employment-based second preference category (EB-2)(in the Final Action Dates table):
- The visa availability date for EB-2 for India remains on July 15, 2012. It is not clear if there will be any major movements starting with the FY 2025 October 2024 visa bulletin though. This certainly is a category that needs further monitoring.
- For China’s visa preference category: the visa availability date also stayed on March 1, 2020.
- There was also no movement in the EB-2 visa category across all other countries and regions in the September 2024 visa bulletin. It is still on March 15, 2023.
- Employment-based third preference category (EB-3) (in the Final Action Dates table):
- EB-3 India’s visa availability date remains on October 22, 2012.
- EB-3 China’s visa availability date stayed on September 1, 2020.
- EB-3 world’s visa availability date retrogressed by one year to December 1, 2020. This was pre-warned by U.S. Department of State in the June 2024 visa bulletin, and now it has retrogressed for not only the world, but also for Mexico and Philippines too. These regions’ visa availability all retrogressed to December 1, 2020.
- In the EB-3 Other Workers (EW) category, there is also retrogression for Rest of the World countries – to December 1, 2020. India remains on October 22, 2012. Mexico’s visa availability date retrogressed to December 1, 2020. And there was no movement for either China (remained on January 1, 2017) or Philippines (remained on May 1, 2020) in this category.
- A.s Department of State mentions in this month’s visa bulletin projections, while the demand for EB-3 visas across all regions is high to close out FY 2024, the expectation remains of visa advancement starting in the FY2025 October 2024 visa bulletin. This is a situation that needs to be monitored carefully by Department of State and they will make any necessary adjustments as needed in the coming months.
- Employment-based fourth preference category (EB-4):
- EB-4 category has not changed at all, with visa cut off date of January 1, 2021 for all countries and regions around the world.
- In fact, the EB-4 religious worker visa program has been extended through September 30, 2024 via the signing of H.R. 2882 on March 23, 2024. That also means that any and all individuals seeking admissions as a non-minister special immigrant must be issued overseas, or final action taken on adjustment of status cases, by midnight September 29, 2024.
- Employment-based fifth preference category (EB-5) (referring to the Final Action Date chart):
- In the Unreserved category, EB-5 visa availability date remains on December 15, 2015 for China, and remains on December 1, 2020 for India.
- For the other countries, and the rest of the world, the visa continues to be available for the nationals from those countries and regions.
- On the EB-5 immigrant investor visa category, a reminder once again to readers that DOS’s visa bulletin for EB-5 preference category has also been updated to reflect the new provisions of the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act (RIA).
- It now has two (2) pools of visa numbers within the EB-5 category. One is reserved for certain set-aside categories (Rural, High Unemployment, and Infrastructure), while the remaining available numbers remain ‘unreserved’.
- Finally, in the Final Action Dates chart for EB5 Set Asides (which covers Rural, and High Unemployment, and Infrastructure areas) for Chinese born and Indian born applicants as well as applicants from around the world continue to remain ‘Current’.
- Family-based Immigrant Visa Categories (with discussions also touching on the Final Action Dates table):
- A reminder that DOS continues to use the Dates for Filing for Family-Sponsored Adjustment of Status Applications chart.
- But in connection with the actual Final Action Dates table which is the actual visa availability date table to look at, and starting in June 2023, due to the steady usage of the F2A – Spouses and Children of Permanent Residents – DOS had to set a final action date for this category in order to maintain steady availability of this particular visa category for the upcoming months.
- So, in the Final Action Date for F2A- India, it remains on November 15, 2021. This is the same date for use for China, Philippines, and the Rest of the World. Mexico’s F2A cutoff date stays on February 1, 2021.
- In the much earlier June and July 2023 visa bulletin’s monthly notes, DOS had explained that because F2A visa numbers have maintained steady usage, therefore, there is “strong likelihood that it will be necessary to retrogress the final action date next month to keep number use within the FY-2023 annual limit.” This trend continues in the FY 2024 visa bulletin.
- In the September 2024 Final Acton Dates for Family-Sponsored Preference Cases, the various regions have visa availability dates of varying cutoff dates.
- Back in the August 2023 visa bulletin, the DOS had also explained that the F2B – Unmarried Son and Daughters (21 years of age or older) of Permanent Resident, is experiencing steady usage throughout the FY2023 and “it may become necessary to retrogress the final action dates for Rest of World countries, India, and China in the coming months to keep number use within the FY-2023 annual limit.”
- Interesting, for the latest September 2024 visa bulletin, U.S. Department of State has maintained dates in F2B as follows:
- India remains on May 1, 2016.
- China also stayed on May 1, 2016.
- The rest of the world also moved ahead to May 1, 2016.
- Mexico remains on July 15, 2004, and the Philippines remains on October 22, 2011.
- Diversity Visa Lottery:
- Department of State has confirmed that it has registered and notified the selectees who are eligible to participate in the DV-2025 Diversity Visa (DV) program.
- It is estimated that about 131,600 prospective applicants (which includes selectees and their spouses and children) have been registered, can confirm their selection, and may be eligible to make an application for immigrant visa.
- A reminder that under Section 203(c) of INA, up to 55,000 permanent resident visas are made available annually to persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States.
- Because the selection is random and does not take into account how many family members may want to immigrate with the selectee, and because it is likely that some of the selectees will not complete their cases or will be found to be ineligible for the visa, the larger figure of 131,600 should be more than enough to make sure that all DV-2025 numbers can be used during FY 2025 (starts from October 1, 2024 through September 30, 2025).
- It should be noted that all eligible DV-2025 visa applicants must receive their immigrant visas (or adjust status, if they are present in the United States) by September 30, 2025.
- If they do not receive their immigrant visas (or adjust their status in the U.S.) by September 30, 2025, then they would lose their chance to do so, and they will have to pursue lottery registration next year again.
- In addition, spouses and children accompanying or following to join DV-2025 principal applicants are only entitled to derivative DV status until September 30, 2025.
With Fiscal Year 2024 winding down in September 2024, U.S. Department of State has done all its best to try to keep the various employment-based visa numbers in steady movement so as to not have the visa numbers be used up too quickly. But with still high demand for these visas, Department of State warns that the preference category limits will be reached in September, and the impact will be immediate, as it will be necessary to make preference category ‘unavailable’ for all employment preference categories.
It will be interesting to see if India will have any movements in the coming months starting in the new FY2025, because it is not certain if the Department of State will have enough leeway to move ahead with more visa movement advancements starting in October 2024. But it will also be important to keep track of how USCIS decides to either use Dates of Filing or Final Action Dates table as we move forward to the new FY 2025. For this key reason, we do encourage readers to check in this space regularly for any further updates.
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