In the afternoon of August 8, the US Department of State (DOS) dropped the September 2024 visa bulletin. There has been no progress in any job-related visa categories from last month. Things got even worse because, like the DOS had warned, the EB-3 visa cutoff dates for some countries have moved back. The cutoff dates mentioned are from the final action chart, unless it says otherwise.
Highlights of the main points of the September 2024 visa bulletin
- The deadline for EB-3 Professionals and Skilled Workers is moving back by a year to December 1, 2020, for everyone except for EB-3 China and India, which stay the same.
- The deadline for EB-3 Other Workers is moving back by a month to December 1, 2020, for everyone except for China, India, and the Philippines, where the deadline won’t change.
- All other deadlines and filing dates will stay the same in September.
- The State Department thinks that by September, they might run out of employment-based immigrant visas for FY 2024, if not sooner.
- USCIS will still stick to the Final Action dates for employment-based categories in September.
The prediction for work visas
Because more people want to get work visas, the DOS thinks it is going to hit the limit for most work visa types in September 2024. If that happens, the category that is all used up will stop being available right away, and no more visas will be given out until the new budget year begins on October 1, 2024.
Main points based on visa category
1. EB-1 visas.
The info for EB-1 category is still the same. The date for India to stop accepting EB-1 applications is still February 1, 2022, and for China, it is still November 1, 2022. The EB-1 category is still active for all other countries.
2. EB-2 visas.
In the EB-2 category, India’s deadline is still July 15, 2012. China’s deadline is March 1, 2020. For all other countries, the deadline is March 15, 2023.
3. EB-3 visas.
There is no change in the EB-3 visa category for India, which is still at October 22, 2012. China’s deadline is still March 1, 2020. However, for Mexico, Philippines, and other countries, the deadline has moved back to December 1, 2020.
4. EB-3 visas for other workers.
In the EB-3 visa for other workers category, India’s deadline is still October 22, 2012. China’s deadline is still January 1, 2017. The deadline for the Philippines has stayed the same at May 1, 2020, but for Mexico and other countries, it has moved back to December 1, 2020.
5. EB-4 visas.
In the EB-4 visa category, the deadline for all countries is still January 1, 2021.
6. EB-5 visas.
For the EB-5 visa category, China’s deadline for unreserved (EB-5 immigrant visa numbers not reserved for rural, high unemployment, and infrastructure projects) is still December 15, 2015. India’s deadline for unreserved is also the same at December 1, 2020. EB-5 is still valid for all other EB5 categories and countries.
Family-based, second preference.
Just to mention, the deadline for filing charts in this category for all countries is still June 24, 2024.
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