US Visa Bulletin September 2024 Released

The U.S. Department of State has published the September 2024 Visa Bulletin, which establishes per-country cut-off dates to control the availability of immigrant visas and the processing of Adjustment of Status (AOS) applications and consular immigrant visa application submissions and approvals. To be considered “current,” an individual’s priority date for permanent residence must be earlier than the specified cut-off date in the monthly Visa Bulletin.
To be eligible to file an Employment-Based (EB) Adjustment of Status (AOS), a foreign national needs to have a priority date earlier than the date listed for their preference category and country of chargeability. The “C” listing indicates that the category is current and allows applications to be filed with any priority date.
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services has indicated that the Final Action Dates chart must be used for the September 2024 Visa Bulletin. Final Action Dates have been effective since March 2024, while Dates for Filing were effective in January and February.
The September Visa Bulletin maintains the February 1, 2022, cut-off date for India EB-1. The cut-off date for EB-1 China remains at November 1, 2022. The cut-off dates for EB-1 for the Rest of the World, Mexico, and the Philippines remain current. The cut-off dates for EB-2 for the Rest of the World, Mexico, and the Philippines stay on March 15, 2023. For EB-2 India, the cut-off date remains at July 15, 2012, and for EB-2 China, it remains at March 1, 2020. There has yet to be a forward movement in the EB-3 India category, which remains on October 22, 2012. The EB-3 China cut-off date also remains unchanged on September 1, 2020. The EB-3 categories for the Rest of the World, Mexico, and the Philippines have regressed one year from December 1, 2021, to December 1, 2020, which confirms concerns of further deterioration in this category. However, the category has yet to become available, as hinted by the State Department.

A. FINAL ACTION DATES FOR EMPLOYMENT-BASED PREFERENCE CASES

Family-Based Visa Final Action Dates September

F1: Unmarried sons and daughters of U.S. citizens: 23,400 plus any unused numbers from the fourth preference category..

F2: Spouses and Children, and Unmarried Sons and Daughters of Permanent Residents: 114,200, plus the number (if any) by which the worldwide family preference level exceeds 226,000, plus any unused first preference numbers:

• F2A: Spouses and Children of Permanent Residents: 77% of the overall second preference limitation, of which 75% are exempt from the per-country limit.
• F2B: Unmarried sons and daughters (21 years or older) of permanent residents are allocated 23% of the total second preference limit.

F3: Married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens: 23,400, plus any unused numbers from the first and second preference categories.

F4: Brothers and Sisters of Adult U.S. Citizens: 65,000, plus any unused numbers from the first three preference categories.

A.FINAL ACTION DATES FOR FAMILY-SPONSORED PREFERENCE CASES