The Department of State has released the April 2024 visa bulletin. The visa bulletin summarizes and provides an overview of the immigrant visas available in April 2024. The State Department releases this information into two charts, the Final Action Dates and Date of Filing charts for Employment-Based and Family-Based immigrant visas. For Applicants physically in the United States and filing for Adjustment of Status (AOS), the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) each month confirms which chart Applicants must use to file their applications. In April 2024, USCIS confirms Applicants may use Date of Filing for Family-Based applications while for Employment-Based cases, Applicants must use the Final Action Dates. Below, we break down the movement seen in the April 2024 visa bulletin.
Family-Based Preference Categories
In the Family-Based Preference category in the April 2024 visa bulletin, only two dates have moved for the Date of Filing and Final Action charts. For worldwide dates including the Philippines in the F2A, Spouses and Children of Permanent Residents category under the Final Action Date chart, the dates advance by over two and half months to September 8, 2020. For Mexico, the dates advance by over seven weeks to August 15, 2020. In the Date of Filing Chart, in the F4 category, Brothers and Sisters of Adult U.S. Citizens for India, the dates advance by over six weeks to April 8, 2006. These are the only changes we see in the April 2024 visa bulletin.
Though, the State Department did have good news in the April 2024 visa bulletin. The Department provided potential movements we can expect over the rest of FY 2024. The State Department, provides the following breakdown:
Worldwide dates:
- F1 (Unmarried Sons and Daughters of U.S. Citizens): Up to three months
- F2A (Spouses and Children of Permanent Residents): Up to six months
- F2B (Unmarried Sons & Daughters (21 years of age or older) of Permanent Residents): Up to ten weeks
- F3 (Married Sons and Daughters of U.S. Citizens): Several months
- F4 (Brothers and Sisters of Adult U.S. Citizens): Up to four weeks
Mexico:
- F1 (Unmarried Sons and Daughters of U.S. Citizens): Up to four months
- F2A (Spouses and Children of Permanent Residents): Up to three months
- F2B (Unmarried Sons and Daughters (21 years of age or older) of Permanent Residents): Several months
- F3 (Married Sons and Daughters of U.S. Citizens): Up to six months
- F4 (Brothers and Sisters of Adult U.S. Citizens): Up to three months
Philippines:
- F3 (Married Sons and Daughters of U.S. Citizens): Several months
- F4 (Brothers and Sisters of Adult U.S. Citizens): Several months
Although the above estimation is given by the State Department, they note this is only a projection and not a guarantee. Even though the projected movements are not vast, it is still a welcome movement since dates have been moving slow in the Family-Based category.
Employment-Based (EB) Preference Categories
In the April 2024 visa bulletin, we see advancement in most employment-based categories with the State Department projecting little to no movement for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2024. In other words, the advancement we see in April 2024 may be the last until October 1, 2024, the beginning of Fiscal Year 2025.
In April 2024, USCIS once again confirmed it will accept EB AOS cases based on the Final Action Dates chart. In other words, to be eligible to apply for AOS application, foreign nationals must have a priority date that is earlier than the date listed under their preference category and country.
For the first preference category (EB-1, Priority Workers) for Applicants from the rest of the world, excluding India and China, the dates remain current allowing applicants to apply for immigrant visa or AOS applications right away. For EB-1 India, the dates advance by five months to March 1, 2021. For EB-2 China, the dates will advance by six weeks to September 1, 2022.
In the second preference category (EB-2, Members of the Professions Holding Advanced Degrees, or Persons of Exceptional Ability category), we see advancements for everyone. For India EB-2, the cutoff dates will advance by six weeks to April 15, 2012. For China, the dates will advance by one months to February 1, 2020. For the rest of the world, the dates will advance by seven weeks, to January 15, 2023.
In the third preference category (EB-3, Skilled Workers, Professionals, and Other Workers), similar to EB-2, we see advancement for everyone except China. The dates for China will remain unchanged from the January 2024 visa bulletin at September 1, 2020. For India, the dates will advance by six weeks to August 15, 2012. For the rest of the world, the dates will also advance by two and a half months, to November 22, 2022.
In the fourth preference category EB-4, Minister and Non-Minister Religious Workers Program is set to expire on March 22, 2024. If Congress doesn’t take any action to extend the dates beyond that date, the category will become “unavailable” after midnight on March 24. If this takes place, no immigrant visa or adjustment of status application can be approved under this category until Congress passes reauthorization. If the program is extended, the program dates will have advanced by over eleven months to November 1, 2020.
In the fifth and last preference category (EB-5, Investors), the dates remain the same as in the April 2024 visa bulletin. For the EB-5 Unreserved categories (C5, T5, I5, and R5), the dates for India remain at December 1, 2020. For China, the dates remain at December 15, 2015. For the rest of the world, the dates remain current. For EB-5 set-aside categories (Rural, High Unemployment, and Infrastructure), they will also remain current.
We continue to monitor and report predictions and movements related to the monthly visa bulletin. If you have questions regarding your priority date, please feel free to contact us. We put our extensive experience and expertise to work for you to ensure you get the right advice.