January 2025 Visa Bulletin

The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has released the January 2025 Visa Bulletin. In January, there is modest movement in some of the oversubscribed categories from the previous month. The DOS also provides some vague predictions regarding the EB5 program. 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

There is no movement in the EB1 category. EB1 China’s cutoff date remains set at 08.Nov.2022, and EB1 India’s cutoff date stands still at 01.Feb.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 advances to 01.Oct.2012. China’s EB2 cutoff date moves ahead to 22.Apr.2020. The EB2 cutoff date for all other countries moves up to 01.Apr.2023.

Employment-Based, Third Preference (EB3) Category

EB3 India’s cutoff date improves to 01.Dec.2012. For China, the EB3 cutoff date advances to 01.Jun.2020. The EB3 cutoff dates for all other countries of chargeability is moves ahead to 01.Dec.2022.

EB3 Other Workers

In the EB3 other workers category, India’s cutoff date matches its EB3 counterpart at 01.Dec.2012. For China, the cutoff date is still locked at 01.Jan.2017. The EB3 other workers cutoff date for all other countries of chargeability inches forward to 08.Dec.2020.

Employment-Based, Fourth Preference (EB4) Category

In the EB4 category, the cutoff date for all countries remains at 01.Jan.2021.

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 at 15.Jul.2016. India’s unreserved cutoff also is unmoved at 01.Jan.2022. EB5 remains current for all other EB5 categories and countries of chargeability.

The U.S. Department of State cautions that, based on the increase in the number of approvals in the EB5 set-aside categories, “[i]t may become necessary to establish Dates for Filing and Final Action Dates during the fiscal year to ensure that issuances in these categories do not exceed annual limits.” The current fiscal year runs through 30.Sep.2025.

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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