August 2024 Visa Bulletin: Small Advancement in EB-2 and EB-3 India

The Department of State released the August 2024 Visa Bulletin. This bulletin summarizes and provides an overview of the immigrant visas available in August 2024. The State Department presents this information in two charts: the Final Action Dates chart and the Dates for Filing chart for Employment-Based and Family-Based immigrant visas. Each month, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) confirms which chart applicants physically present in the United States and filing for Adjustment of Status (AOS) must use to file their applications. In the upcoming days, USCIS will announce on its Visa Bulletin webpage whether it will accept adjustment of status applications for August based on the Final Action Dates chart or the Dates for Filing chart. We will update you promptly when this information becomes available.

Below, we break down the movement seen in the August 2024 Visa Bulletin.

Employment-Based (EB) Preference Categories

In the August 2024 Visa Bulletin, there are slight advancements for India’s EB-2 and EB-3 categories, while the other EB categories remain unchanged. In the first preference category (EB-1, Priority Workers), the dates hold steady across the board. The dates for EB-1 India will remain at February 1, 2022. For China EB-1, the dates will stay at November 1, 2022. All other countries will continue to be current.

In the second preference category (EB-2, Members of the Professions Holding Advanced Degrees, or Persons of Exceptional Ability), as mentioned above, we see a small advancement for India. For India EB-2, the cutoff dates advance by one month to July 15, 2012. For China, the dates will remain at March 1, 2020. For the rest of the world, the dates will stay at March 15, 2023.

In the third preference category (EB-3, Skilled Workers, Professionals, and Other Workers), we see small advancement for India, with the State Department noting the high demand and number use in this category. For EB-3 India, the dates will advance by one month to October 22, 2012. For China, the dates remain unchanged at September 1, 2020. For the rest of the world, the dates will remain at December 1, 2021. Similar to the June Visa Bulletin, the State Department notes in the August Visa Bulletin that given the continued demand and number use in the EB-3 category, the category may retrogress in the upcoming and last visa bulletin of the fiscal year, September. They go a little further and say we may even see the category become unavailable. We will monitor and update you accordingly.

In the fourth preference category (EB-4, Minister and Non-Minister Religious Workers Program), the dates remain unchanged across the board at January 1, 2021.

In the fifth and final preference category (EB-5, Investors), the dates remain unchanged. 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 the EB-5 set-aside categories (Rural, High Unemployment, and Infrastructure), the dates will also remain current.

Family-Based Preference Categories

In the Family-Based Preference category, the dates across preference categories and countries remain the same as in the July 2024 Visa Bulletin, except in two categories in the Dates for Filing Chart. In the F2A category (Spouses and Children of Permanent Residents), the dates in the Dates for Filing Chart will advance by over seven months for all countries to June 15, 2024. This allows nonimmigrants currently present in the U.S. and married to Legal Permanent Residents to apply for Adjustment of Status if their priority date is before June 15, 2024. The second category with slight advancement is F3 (Married Sons and Daughters of U.S. Citizens) in the Dates for Filing Chart. The dates will advance by three months for all countries except for Mexico and the Philippines, to January 1, 2011.

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.