U.S. State Department Releases September 2024 Visa Bulletin.
The U.S. State Department has announced the Visa Bulletin for September 2024, detailing the Final Action deadlines for immigrant visa approvals and status changes. This bulletin provides important information for applicants regarding when to submit necessary documents to the National Visa Center.
For September 2024, most visa categories remain unchanged. The Final Action date for EB-1 visas for India is still set at February 1, 2022, while for China, it is November 1, 2022. Other countries remain current in their visa processing.
In the third preference category, there is a general trend of delayed deadlines. The EB-3 deadline for India remains at October 22, 2012, and for China, it is September 1, 2020. For the rest of the world, the deadline is pushed back by one year to December 1, 2020.
The EB-5 Unreserved categories (C5, T5, I5, and R5) for India and China will stay the same, with deadlines set at December 1, 2020, and December 15, 2015, respectively. Other countries will also remain current for these categories. Additionally, the EB-5 set-aside categories for rural, high unemployment, and infrastructure investments will remain current.
Employment-Based Visa Demand Rises
Throughout the fiscal year, demand for employment-based visas has steadily increased, leading to expectations that most employment-based preference category limits for FY 2024 will be reached by September. If an annual limit is reached, that preference category will be marked as “unavailable,” meaning no further requests will be processed.
Each month, the State Department releases a report detailing the current status of immigrant visa applications, including deadlines for each visa type. The Visa Bulletin is adjusted based on applicants’ home countries, their current visa statuses, and anticipated demand.
For FY 2024, the cap for family-sponsored preference immigrants is set at 226,000, while the limit for employment-based preference immigrants is 160,791. Each country’s immigrant quota is limited to 7% of the combined annual limits for family-sponsored and employment-based preferences, which amounts to 27,075 for FY 2024. Additionally, a dependent area limit of 2% equals 7,736.
The EB-5 Visa, known as the employment-based fifth preference visa, represents 7.1% of global employment creation. Of this, 32% is reserved: 20% for investments in rural areas, 10% for investments in high-unemployment regions, and 2% for infrastructure projects. The remaining 68% is allocated among qualified immigrants.
Individuals looking to change their immigration status with USCIS should refer to the Final Action Dates charts to determine the appropriate time to file their applications. If there are more available immigrant visas than applicants in a fiscal year, individuals may consult the Dates for Filing chart. Otherwise, they should use the Final Action Dates chart to decide when to submit their applications.
If a specific immigrant visa type is marked as “current” on the Final Action Dates chart, or if the deadline on the Final Action Dates chart is later than the Dates for Filing chart, applicants can submit their applications using the Final Action Dates chart for that month.
For September, F2A numbers exempt from the per-country limit will be issued to applicants from all countries with priority dates before February 1, 2021. F2A numbers subject to the per-country limit will be available for applicants from all countries except Mexico, with priority dates starting from February 1, 2021, and before November 15, 2021. All F2A numbers for Mexico are exempt from this limit.