July 2024 Visa Bulletin

This afternoon, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) released the July 2024 Visa Bulletin. All cutoff dates listed refer to those in the final action chart (i.e., Chart A), unless otherwise specified.

Visa Bulletin Summary

Employment-Based, First Preference (EB1) Category

The cutoff date for EB1 India advances significantly, to February 1, 2022, while EB1 China’s cutoff date moves to November 1, 2022. The EB1 category remains current for all other countries of chargeability.

Employment-Based, Second Preference (EB2) Category

In the EB2 category, India’s cutoff date moves ahead to June 15, 2012, and China’s cutoff date advances to March 1, 2020. The EB2 cutoff date for all other countries moves up to March 15, 2023.

Employment-Based, Third Preference (EB3) Category

For EB3 India, the cutoff date advances to September 22, 2012, while EB3 China’s cutoff date is still set at September 1, 2020. The EB3 cutoff date for all other countries of chargeability retrogresses to December 1, 2021.

EB3 Other Workers

In the EB3 other workers category, India’s cutoff date moves ahead to September 22, 2012. For China, the cutoff date is still locked at January 1, 2017. The EB3 other workers cutoff date for Philippines remains unchanged at May 1, 2020. For all other countries of chargeability, the cutoff date advances to January 1, 2021.

Employment-Based, Fourth Preference (EB4) Category

In the EB4 category, the cutoff dates for all countries advance to January 1, 2020.

Employment-Based, Fifth Preference (EB5) Category

In the EB5 category, China’s unreserved (i.e., EB5 immigrant visa numbers not set aside for rural, high unemployment, and infrastructure projects) cutoff date remains set at December 15, 2015. India’s unreserved cutoff also remains unchanged at December 1, 2020. EB5 remains current for all other EB5 categories and countries of chargeability.

Clarification on Retrogression

In summarizing the June 2024 Visa Bulletin, we reported that the DOS warned of looming retrogression in the EB2 and EB3 categories. It now appears that the DOS meant that retrogression would be necessary for all countries other than India and China. Now, the DOS is cautioning that “given continued high demand and number use in this category, it will likely be necessary to either further retrogress the final action date or make the category unavailable in August.” Again, this does not appear to include either India or China. Further, no mention is made of the EB2 category.

Conclusion

MurthyDotCom will continue to closely monitor and report on movement and predictions related to the monthly visa bulletin. Subscribe to the free MurthyBulletin to have weekly updates sent to your inbox.

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