October 2024 Visa Bulletin

This morning, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) released the October 2024 Visa Bulletin. Unfortunately, there is less forward movement than hoped for in this first visa bulletin of fiscal year 2025 (FY25). 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 China’s cutoff date inches forward to November 8, 2022. Meanwhile, EB1 India’s cutoff date remains set at February 1, 2022. The EB1 category remains current for all other countries of chargeability.

Employment-Based, Second Preference (EB2) Category

In the EB2 category, China’s cutoff date moves ahead to March 22, 2020. India’s cutoff date for EB2, however, remains unchanged at July 15, 2012. The EB2 cutoff date for all other countries remains set at March 15, 2023.

Employment-Based, Third Preference (EB3) Category

EB3 India’s cutoff date advances to November 1, 2012. For China, the EB3 cutoff date actually retrogresses to April 1, 2020. The EB3 cutoff dates for all other countries of chargeability race ahead to November 15, 2022.

EB3 Other Workers

In the EB3 other workers category, India’s cutoff date matches its EB3 counterpart at November 1, 2012. For China, the cutoff date is still locked at January 1, 2017. The EB3 other workers cutoff date for all other countries of chargeability is set at December 1, 2020.

Employment-Based, Fourth Preference (EB4) Category

In the EB4 category, the cutoff date for all countries remains set at January 1, 2021.

Note that the EB4 program for certain religious workers is currently scheduled to expire on September 30, 2024. 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

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 advances to July 15, 2016. India’s unreserved cutoff also surges ahead to January 1, 2022. EB5 remains current for all other EB5 categories and countries of chargeability.

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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