December 2023 Visa Bulletin

This afternoon, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) released the December 2023 Visa Bulletin. The last visa bulletin of the calendar year sees almost no movement from the previous month. 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 change in the EB1 category. The cutoff date for China remains set at February 15, 2022, while India keeps a cutoff date of January 1, 2017. The EB1 category remains current for all other countries of chargeability.

Employment-Based, Second Preference (EB2) Category

The only change in the EB2 category is that China’s cutoff date advances to October 22, 2019. EB2 India’s cutoff date remains set at January 1, 2012. The EB2 cutoff date for all other countries stays put at July 15, 2022.

Employment-Based, Third Preference (EB3) Category

Similar to the EB3 category, only China’s cutoff date moves at all, advancing to January 22, 2020. EB3 India’s cutoff date stands still at May 1, 2012. The EB3 category for all other countries of chargeability remains unchanged at December 1, 2021.

EB3 Other Workers

There is no movement whatsoever in the EB3 other workers category. The cutoff date for China stays set at January 1, 2016. India keeps a cutoff date of May 1, 2012. For Philippines, the cutoff date remains at May 1, 2020. For all other countries of chargeability, the EB3 other workers cutoff date is stuck at August 1, 2020.

Employment-Based, Fourth Preference (EB4) Category

The cutoff dates in the EB4 category for all countries stays set at January 1, 2019.

The EB4 program for certain religious workers is currently scheduled to expire as of November 17, 2023. If Congress does not extend the program by that date, the EB4 category for certain religious workers will be unavailable after that date.

Employment-Based, Fifth Preference (EB5) Category

There is no movement in the EB5 category. China’s EB5 unreserved (i.e., EB5 immigrant visa numbers not set aside for rural, high unemployment, and infrastructure projects) cutoff date remains set at October 1, 2015. India’s unreserved cutoff date stays set at December 15, 2018. EB5 remains current for all other EB5 categories and countries of chargeability.

Conclusion

Additional immigrant visa numbers will be released next month, as that is the start of a new quarter of the fiscal year. Therefore, we expect at least some movement in the January 2024 Visa Bulletin. 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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