Immigration

Immigration News January 2024

FINAL ACTION DATES FOR EMPLOYMENT-BASED PREFERENCE CASES

The Department of State issues the visa bulletin every month which publishes information regarding when employment based applicants will have available green cards. The bulletin shows when the applicant’s status becomes “current”.

There are substantial green card backlogs for citizens from countries such as China, India, Mexico, and the Philippines. Therefore, it is important for citizens of India to check the visa bulletin every month.

The visa bulletin summarizes the availability of immigrant numbers during January for: “Final Action Dates” and “Dates for Filing Applications,” indicating when immigrant visa applicants should be notified to assemble and submit required documentation to the National Visa Center.

Visa Bulletin Summary and Explanation of the Categories

Employment-Based, First Preference (EB1) Category

First: Priority Workers: 28.6% of the worldwide employment-based preference level, plus any numbers not required for fourth and fifth preferences.

(if you are a noncitizen of extraordinary ability, are an outstanding professor or researcher, or are a certain multinational executive or manager.)

The cutoff date for EB1 India moved to September 1, 2020. While the dates for Mexico and Philippines are current, China’a cut off date is July 1, 2022.

Employment-Based, Second Preference (EB2) Category

Second: Members of the Professions Holding Advanced Degrees or Persons of Exceptional Ability: 28.6% of the worldwide employment-based preference level, plus any numbers not required by first preference.

In the EB2 category, the cutoff date is now March 1, 2012. For China, the cutoff date moves ahead to January 1, 2020.

Employment-Based, Third Preference (EB3) Category

Third: Skilled Workers, Professionals, and Other Workers: 28.6% of the worldwide level, plus any numbers not required by first and second preferences, not more than 10,000 of which to "*Other Workers".

For EB3 India, the cutoff date moved up to June 1, 2012.

Employment-Based, Fourth Preference (EB4) Category

Fourth: Certain Special Immigrants: 7.1% of the worldwide level. (EB4 is generally issued to religious workers or international organization workers)

In the EB4 category, the cutoff date for all countries moves up to May 15, 2019.

Employment-Based, Fifth Preference (EB5) Category

Fifth: Employment Creation: 7.1% of the worldwide level, of which 32% are reserved as follows: 20% reserved for qualified immigrants who invest in a rural area; 10% reserved for qualified immigrants who invest in a high unemployment area; and 2% reserved for qualified immigrants who invest in infrastructure projects. The remaining 68% are unreserved and are allotted for all other qualified immigrants.

In the EB5 category, India’s unreserved (i.e., EB5 immigrant visa numbers not set aside for rural, high unemployment, and infrastructure projects) cutoff date advances to December 1, 2020.

The Contributor of these articles is, Madhurima Boyapati Paturi. She is current Immigration/Legal Chair for ATA. Disclaimer: The information provided here in is for public service and may not apply to any specific or particular circumstance. This information is not intended as, and should not be taken as, legal advice .Please consult an attorney about your particular factual and legal circumstances.