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The U.S. Department of State (DOS) publishes current immigrant visa availability information on its Visa Bulletin. The Visa Bulletin shows when immigrant visas are available for issuance to prospective immigrants based on their individual priority dates. Each month, the DOS publishes two charts per visa preference category on its Visa Bulletin. The charts are based on the Application Final Dates and Dates for Filing Applications.

The Application Final Dates chart illustrates the dates when visas may finally be issued, and the Dates for Filing Applications demonstrates the earliest dates when applicants may be able to apply. 

For the May 2024 Visa Bulletin, USCIS has determined that it will continue to use the Final Action Dates for Employment-Based Adjustment of Status Applications table. Meanwhile, USCIS also decided to continue to follow the Dates for Filing for Family-Sponsored Adjustment of Status Applications table. While the May 2024 visa bulletin illustrates movement dates for nationals across the globe, this article focuses specifically on the dates as it impacts native-born Indians. 
 

Family-Sponsored Preference Cases Specific for Indian Nationals /

•    Family-based First Preference Category (F-1 – Unmarried Sons and Daughters of U.S. Citizens): India’s visa cut-off date will remain on September 1, 2017.
•    Family-based Second Preference Category (F2A – Spouses and Children of Permanent Residents): India’s visa cut-off date will remain on September 1, 2023.
•    Family-based Second Preference Category (F2B – Unmarried Sons and Daughters (21 years of age or older) of Permanent Residents: India’s visa cut-off date will remain on January 1, 2017
•    Family-based Third Preference Category (F3 – Married Sons and Daughters of U.S. Citizens): India’s visa cut-off date advanced by a few months to June 1, 2010.  
•    Family-based Fourth Preference Category (F4 – Brothers and Sisters of Adult U.S. Citizens): India’s visa cut-off date advanced a few months to June 15, 2006.

Employment-Sponsored Preference Cases Specific for Indian Nationals /

•    Employment-based First (Priority Workers): India’s visa cut-off date remains on March 1, 2021.
•    Employment-based Second (Members of the Professions Holding Advanced Degrees or Persons of Exceptional Ability): India’s visa cut-off date also remains on April 15, 2012.
•    Employment-based Third (Skilled Workers, Professionals, and Other Workers): India’s visa cut-off date also remains on August 15, 2012.
•    Employment-based Fourth (Certain Special Immigrants – including Religious Workers): India’s visa cut-off date is on November 1, 2020.  
•    Employment-based Fifth (Employment Creation – which is the EB-5 immigrant investor visa category): In the Unreserved category, EB-5 visa availability date remains on December 1, 2020, for India. Finally, in the Final Action Dates chart for EB5 Set Asides (which covers Rural, and High Unemployment, and Infrastructure areas) for Indian born applicants, the visa number continue to remain ‘Current.’

As the readers can see from the explanation provided above, there have not been any major advancements, if at all, from prior month’s Visa Bulletin, as most filing dates remain the same for both the family and employment preference categories.  

In fact, by utilizing the Final Action Dates for Employment-based Preference Cases in the May 2024 Visa Bulletin, USCIS, in coordination with the DOS, is signaling that it is doing everything possible to keep in check the usage of immigrant visa numbers for the employment-based preference categories while it faces a significant demand for these visa preference categories on all levels.

This is also why the Department of State does not anticipate further movement with these categories for the rest of Fiscal Year 2024. We will continue to monitor and analyze the steps taken by both the Department of State and USCIS in the coming months.  

(Clement C. Chang Esq., Senior Associate at Pasricha & Patel, LLC,  has extensive experience and knowledge in all aspects of immigration law. He has spent several years providing exceptional legal services in employment-based immigration, labor certification, family-based immigration, and immigrant and nonimmigrant visa petitions)