April 2024 Visa Bulletin

Today, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) released the April 2024 Visa Bulletin. This month’s visa bulletin also provides some predictions for movement in the coming months. 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

EB1 India’s cutoff date advances to March 1, 2021. Meanwhile, the cutoff date for EB1 China moves up to September 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 April 15, 2012. China’s EB2 cutoff date advances to February 1, 2020. The EB2 cutoff date for all other countries moves ahead to January 15, 2023.

Employment-Based, Third Preference (EB3) Category

For EB3 India, the cutoff date moves ahead to August 15, 2012. For China, the EB3 cutoff date remains stuck at September 1, 2020. The EB3 cutoff date for all other countries of chargeability moves ahead to November 22, 2022.

EB3 Other Workers

In the EB3 other workers category, India’s cutoff date moves forward to August 15, 2012. For China, the cutoff date remains unchanged at January 1, 2017. The EB3 other workers cutoff date for Philippines is still locked at May 1, 2020. For all other countries of chargeability, the cutoff date moves forward to October 8, 2020.

Employment-Based, Fourth Preference (EB4) Category

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

The EB4 program for certain religious workers is currently scheduled to expire as of March 22, 2024. If Congress does not extend the program by that date, the EB4 category for certain religious workers will become unavailable after that date.

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.

Predictions for Future Movement

The April Visa Bulletin includes predictions for movement in the coming months. The predictions provided are as follows:

Family-Based Categories

Rest of the World (including India and China) dates:
First Preference: Up to three months
Second Preference “A”: Up to six months
Second Preference “B”:  Up to ten weeks
Third Preference: Several months
Fourth Preference: Up to four weeks

Mexico:
First Preference: Up to four months
Second Preference “A”: Up to three months
Second Preference “B”:  Several months
Third Preference: Up to six months
Fourth Preference: Up to three months

Philippines:
First Preference: Up to three months
Second Preference “A”: Up to six months
Second Preference “B”:  Up to ten weeks
Third Preference: Several months
Fourth Preference: Several months

Employment-Based Categories

Very little to no forward movement is expected in the coming months since the final action dates for many categories advanced for April 2024.

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 delivered to your inbox.

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