October 2023 Visa Bulletin

Today, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) released the October 2023 Visa Bulletin, which is the first visa bulletin of fiscal year 2024. As expected, there is movement in most of the categories. 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

In the EB1 category, the cutoff date for China advances to February 15, 2022, while India’s cutoff date moves forward to January 1, 2017. The EB1 category is current for all other countries of chargeability.

Employment-Based, Second Preference (EB2) Category

EB2 China’s cutoff date moves ahead to October 1, 2019, while India sees its EB2 cutoff date advance to January 1, 2012. The EB2 cutoff date for all other countries inches forward to July 8, 2022.

Employment-Based, Third Preference (EB3) Category

In the EB3 category, China’s cutoff date is set at January 1, 2020. EB3 India’s cutoff date moves up to May 1, 2012, once again providing it with a more favorable cutoff date than its EB2 counterpart. The EB3 category for all other countries of chargeability advances to December 1, 2021.

EB3 Other Workers

In the EB3 other workers category, the cutoff date for China is set at January 1, 2016. For India, the cutoff date moves to May 1, 2012. For Philippines, the cutoff date advances to May 1, 2020. For all other countries of chargeability, the EB3 other workers cutoff date moves ahead to August 1, 2020.

Employment-Based, Fourth Preference (EB4) Category

In the EB4 category, the cutoff date for all countries is set to January 1, 2019.

Note that the EB4 program for certain religious workers is currently scheduled to expire as of October 1, 2023. If Congress does not extend the program by that date, the EB4 category for certain religious workers will be unavailable.

Employment-Based, Fifth Preference (EB5) Category

China’s EB5 unreserved (i.e., EB5 immigrant visa numbers not set aside for rural, high unemployment, and infrastructure projects) cutoff date moves up to October1, 2015. For India, the cutoff date advances more significantly to December 15, 2018. EB5 remains current for all other EB5 categories and countries of chargeability.

Conclusion

While many of these advances are disappointing, the DOS notes in the visa bulletin that “[d]ate advancements reflect an intention to keep visa issuance within quarterly limits…with potential date advancements throughout the fiscal year.” 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.

Copyright © 2023, MURTHY LAW FIRM. All Rights Reserved