The Department of State released the May 2024 visa bulletin. The visa bulletin summarizes and provides an overview of the immigrant visas available in May 2024. The State Department releases this information in two charts, the Final Action Dates and Date of Filing charts for Employment-Based (EB) and Family-Based (FB) immigrant visas. For Applicants physically in the United States and filing for Adjustment of Status (AOS), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) confirms each month which chart Applicants must use to file their applications. In May 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 May 2024 visa bulletin.

Family-Based Preference Categories

In the Family-Based Preference category in the May 2024 visa bulletin, we see some welcome advancement in most of the preference categories. Unlike the EB preference categories, USCIS will accept cases based on Date of Filing Chart.

In the F1, Unmarried Sons and Daughters of U.S. Citizens in the Final Action Dates chart, all countries excluding Mexico and the Philippines, we see the dates advance by five months to July 8, 2015. For Mexico and the Philippines, the dates remain the same at May 1, 2001, and March 1, 2012, respectively.

In the May 2024 Final Action Dates Chart, in the F2A, Spouses and Children of Permanent Residents category, we also see some welcome advancement across the board. The dates for Mexico advance by over two months to June 1, 2021. For the rest of the world, similarly the dates advance by over eight months and three weeks to June 1, 2021. In the F2B, Unmarried Sons and Daughters (21 years of age or older) of Permanent Residents, the dates advance for the world excluding the Philippines. The dates advance for the world advance by over four months to April 1, 2016. For Mexico, the dates will advance by over three months to March 1, 2004.

In the F3, Married Sons and Daughters of U.S. Citizens in the Final Action Date Chart, similarly we see advancement for the world including Mexico and the Philippines. The dates for the world will advance by over three months to January 1, 2010. For Mexico, the dates will advance by over ten months to July 22, 1999. For the Philippines, the dates will progress by little less than two months to August 1, 2002.

Finally, in the F4, Brothers and Sisters of Adult U.S. Citizens, we see advancement for everyone. For the rest of the world and China, the dates will advance by over one month to July 22, 2007. For F4 India, the dates will advance by one month to January 15, 2006. Similar for Mexico the dates will advance by over three months to January 1, 2001. Lastly for the Philippines, the will dates advance by over two months to September 8, 2003.

Employment-Based (EB) Preference Categories

In the May 2024 visa bulletin, we see lack of movement in most employment-based categories as projected by the State Department in the April 2024 visa bulletin. Similar to last month, USCIS once again confirmed it will accept EB AOS cases based on the Final Action Dates chart. In other words, to be eligible to submit an 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) the dates remain the same as the April 2024 visa bulletin. For Applicants from the rest of the world, excluding India and China, the dates will remain current allowing applicants to apply for an immigrant visa or AOS applications right away. For EB-1 India, they will remain at March 1, 2021. For China, the dates will remain at 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 no movement once again. For India EB-2, the cutoff dates will remain at April 15, 2012. For China, the dates will stay at February 1, 2020. For the rest of the world, the date remains as January 15, 2023.

In the third preference category (EB-3, Skilled Workers, Professionals, and Other Workers), similar to above, we see lack of movement. The dates for China remain unchanged from the January 2024 visa bulletin at September 1, 2020. For India, the dates remain the same at August 15, 2012. For the rest of the world, the dates also remain at November 22, 2022.

In the fourth preference category (EB-4, Minister and Non-Minister Religious Workers Program), thankfully, late last month, Congress extended the program through the end of this fiscal year which ends on September 30, 2024. In the May 2024 visa bulletin, for the entire world, the cutoff date remains on 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), dates 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 our clients and are with them every step of the way.