The Department of State (DOS) released the November 2023 Visa Bulletin. The visa bulletin summarizes the availability of immigrant visas both for consular processing and adjustment of status applications to be filled in November 2023. The State Department releases both the Final Action Dates and Date of Filing Applications for Employment-Based and Family-Based immigrant visas. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) confirms which chart Applicants must use to file their Adjustment of Status Application (AOS). USCIS has confirmed they will be accepting Employment-Based and Family-Based cases based on the Dates of Filing Action Charts. Below, we break down the movement seen in the November 2023 visa bulletin.

Employment-Based (EB) Cases

The EB Final Action Dates Chart for November 2023 is a mirror image of the October 2023 visa bulletin. As USCIS confirmed in their FAQ, the Department of State has set the EB visa number for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 at 165,000. This visa number is dramatically lower than the 197,000 available in FY 2023. USCIS and DOS already have “significant volumes of employment-based adjustment of status and immigrant visa application in their inventories.” Therefore, it is unlikely for us to see advancement for certain categories, including EB-2 and EB-3 for noncitizens chargeable to India.

For the Final Action Dates Chart, in the EB first preference category (EB-1), the dates hold for all categories. The cutoff date for India is January 1, 2017, while the cutoff date for China is February 25, 2023, as in the October Visa bulletin. The dates for the rest of the world will remain current. Applicants may file their AOS application using the Dates of Filing Chart in November. As with the Final Action Dates, the Date of Filing Chart in November remains the same as in October. The cutoff date for India remains at July 1, 2019. For China, the cutoff date will be August 1, 2022.

Moving to the EB second preference category (EB-2) the demand for visas in this category is unusually high even for the rest of the world, excluding India and China. For the first time ever, the dates for EB-2 for the rest of the world are not current. Instead, the Department of State has set a cuff date for both for the Date of Filing Chart and the Final Action Chart. In the Final Action Dates Chart, the cutoff date for India will be January 1, 2012, and for China, the cutoff date will be October 1, 2019. For the rest of the world, including Mexico and the Philippines, we see an advancement of a week to July 15, 2022. For the Date of Filing Chart for EB-2, the dates will remain the same as the October 2023 visa bulletin.

In the EB-3 Professional/Skilled Worker (EB-3) category in the Final Action Date, unsurprisingly, we see the dates remain the same in both charts. The EB-3 category Final Action Date for India will remain at May 1, 2012, and China will remain at January 1, 2020. All other countries will remain at December 1, 2021. In the Date of Filing Chart, the cutoff date for India will be at August 1, 2012. For China, it will be at January 1, 2020. For the rest of the world and Mexico, the dates will remain at February 1, 2023, and for the Philippines, the dates hold at January 1, 2023.

The EB-4 Non-Minister Religious Worker Program will expire on November 17, 2023, if there is no legislative action extending the category beyond that date. If there is no extension, then the category will become “unavailable” as of November 17. Thus, DOS nor the USCIS can process immigrant visa applications or adjustment of status applications until Congress passes the reauthorization of visas under this category. This leaves many religious workers and ministers without an opportunity to move forward.

Family-Based (FB)Cases

The Final Action Date chart for Family-Sponsored cases remains unchanged from the October 2023 visa bulletin. For Spouses and Children of Permanent Residents, DOS continues to set a cutoff date for both charts. The lack of movement is a sign the U.S. embassies and consulates continue to work to clear the backlog created by the global pandemic along with the increased demand for FB immigrant visas. The State Department is keeping the dates steady to allow the clearance of the backlog. In November 2023, USCIS is using the Date of Filing Chart to accept Family-Based AOS applications. Again, the Date of Filing Charts in November 2023 mirrors the dates in the October 2023 visa bulletin for the most part. The movement we see is for Mexican Nationals. For (F2B) Unmarried Sons and Daughters (21 years of age or older) of Permanent Residents, the dates will advance from January 1, 2002, to May 1, 2002, in the Final Action Dates Chart. All other dates for all other nationals remain the same as the October visa bulletin.

We continue to monitor and report predictions and movements related to the monthly visa bulletin. If you have questions regarding your priority date, please contact us. We put our extensive experience and expertise to work for you to ensure you get the right advice.

November 2023 Visa Bulletin Visa Bulletin