US July 2024 Visa Bulletin Released: Key Updates and Continued Retrogression

The U.S. Department of State has released the Visa Bulletin for July 2024, revealing no changes from the May 2024 bulletin. The bulletin outlines the immigrant numbers available in July for the “Dates for Filing Applications” and “Final Action Dates.” Forms I-485, Applications to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, will continue to be accepted by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for all employment-based preference categories as shown in the Final Action Dates chart.

Key points from the bulletin include:

• Employment-Based Preference Categories: Individuals must have a priority date earlier than the date listed under their country and preference category to apply for an adjustment of status (AOS) application. The Visa Bulletin's deadlines and USCIS's validation determine monthly eligibility to file Form I-485 applications. Approval chances for pending Form I-485 or immigrant visa applications are determined by the Final Action Dates chart.

• No Forward Movement Expected: The April 2024 Visa Bulletin indicated that retrogression might occur, with no forward movement expected for employment-based immigrant visa categories between May 1, 2024, and September 30, 2024.

• First Preference Category (EB-1): The deadline for EB-1 India has advanced to February 1, 2022, an eleven-month extension. For China, the EB-1 deadline is now November 1, 2022, two months earlier than previously.

• Third Preference Category (EB-3): The dates for EB-3 India have advanced to September 22, 2013, one month earlier. The dates for China are set at September 1, 2020. For the rest of the world, the dates have advanced to December 1, 2021, more than eleven months ahead of schedule.

• Fifth Preference Category (EB-5): The dates remain unchanged from the April 2024 bulletin. For India, the EB-5 Unreserved categories (C5, T5, I5, and R5) are set at December 1, 2020. For China, the dates are still December 15, 2015. The dates for the rest of the world and the EB-5 set-aside categories (Rural, High Unemployment, and Infrastructure) also remain unchanged.

• Family-Sponsored Preference Immigration Cap: The cap for fiscal year 2024 is set at 226,000. There are at least 140,000 annual employment-based preference immigrants worldwide. Preference immigrants are subject to a per-country restriction of 7% of the total annual limits, which equals 25,620 for family-sponsored and employment-based preference categories. The dependent area limit is set at 2%, equaling 7,320.

• Diversity Immigrant (DV) Category: Up to 55,000 immigrant visas are available each fiscal year under Section 203(c) of the INA for persons from countries with low admissions during the previous five years. No single country can receive more than seven percent of the available diversity visas in any one year. The DV-2024 program ends on September 30, 2024, after which no DV visas will be issued to DV-2024 applicants.

The bulletin provides detailed tables for the Final Action Dates for Family-Sponsored Preference Cases, Dates for Filing Family-Sponsored Visa Applications, Final Action Dates for Employment-Based Preference Cases, Dates for Filing of Employment-Based Visa Applications, and Diversity Immigrant (DV) Category allocations for July and August.

Allocations are made chronologically based on reported priority dates for demands received by June 5th. If demand exceeds supply, the category or foreign state is deemed oversubscribed, and the final action date for an oversubscribed category is the priority date of the first applicant who could not be reached within the numerical limits. Retrogression of final action dates may occur, and supplemental requests will be honored only if the priority date falls within the new final action date. If the annual limit is reached, the preference category becomes “unavailable,” and no further requests will be honoured.