The January 2024 Visa Bulletin brings significant changes in employment-based preference categories for India and China. Final Action Dates for EB-2 Worldwide and EB-3 Professional/Skilled Workers Worldwide show notable progress. For family-sponsored individuals, significant progress is seen in Final Action Dates for various categories. These updates are crucial for immigrant visa seekers and those aiming for permanent residence within the U.S.
Key Updates in the January 2024 Visa Bulletin:
Employment-Based Categories:
• EB-1 India: A significant leap in the Final Action Date to September 1, 2020, marking an advancement of three years and eight months. The Date for Filing moves forward by one and a half years to January 1, 2021.
• EB-1 China: The Final Action Date has progressed by four and a half months to July 1, 2022. The Date for Filing has also advanced by five months to January 1, 2023.
• EB-2: For India, the Final Action Date moves forward two months to March 1, 2012. China sees a nine-week advancement to January 1, 2020. Other countries in this category will experience a three-and-a-half-month progression to November 1, 2022.
• For EB-3 Professional/Skilled Workers, there will be an advancement in China’s Final Action Dates by over seven months, reaching September 1, 2020, and for India, the dates will progress by one month to June 1, 2012. Other countries in this category will see an eight-month advancement to August 1, 2022.
• EB-3 Other Workers: Advances include a one-month progression to September 1, 2020, for China to January 1, 2017, and for India to June 1, 2012. The Philippines remains at May 1, 2020. The Date for Filing for China in this category will move forward by ten months to July 1, 2021.
• For the EB-5 India Unreserved category, the Final Action Date advances nearly two years to December 1, 2020. The Final Action Date for the EB-5 China Unreserved category will advance by nine weeks, setting the new date at December 8, 2015.
Family-Sponsored Categories:
• The Dates for Filing are consistent with those of December 2023.
• Final Action Dates:
• F2A: Mexico progresses by over eight and a half months to October 22, 2019. Other countries see a similar advancement to November 1, 2019.
• F2B: Mexico moves forward by almost eighteen months to October 22, 2003. Other countries advance by nine days to October 1, 2015.
• F3: Mexico sees more than a five-and-a-half-month advancement to September 8, 1998. Other countries progress by nearly three and a half months to April 22, 2009.
• F4: India advances by over a month to November 15, 2005. The Philippines moves forward by almost two months to October 15, 2002. Other countries see a one-month advancement to May 22, 2007.
If you or your family members have any questions about how immigration and nationality laws in the United States may affect you, or if you want to access additional information about immigration and nationality laws in the United States or Canada, please do not hesitate to contact the immigration and nationality lawyers at NPZ Law Group. You can reach us by emailing info@visaserve.com or by calling us at 201-670-0006 extension 104. We also invite you to visit our website at www.visaserve.com for more information.