The March 2024 Visa Bulletin released by the U.S. Department of State indicated little to no movement in most employment-based categories—including EB-5—except for a six-month leap in the EB-4 category.
Final Action Dates
Modest Movement for EB-1 India and China; Six-Month Leap for EB-4
EB-5: No Advancement for India and China Unreserved Category
Dates for Filing
Dates for Filing Advance for EB-4, No Change for EB-5
Faster Green Card With EB-5 Reserved Visas
Embarking on the EB-5 Immigration Process
Final Action Dates
The chart above shows the final action dates for employment-based immigrant visas as published in the March 2024 Visa Bulletin. These cut-off dates determine the availability of immigrant visas depending upon the priority date of applicants.
The priority date is the date on which the initial Green Card application was filed with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). For EB-5 applicants, it is the date of filing of Form I-526E.
If an applicant’s priority date falls before the corresponding final action date in their category, they may move forward with their immigrant visa application.
Final action date “C” or “current” indicates that there is no backlog in that category for the corresponding nationality, and the immigrant visa can be issued immediately upon approval.
Modest Movement for EB-1 India and China; Six-Month Leap for EB-4
EB-1: Final action date for India progressed by one month to October 1, 2020, and for China by two weeks to July 15, 2022. All other countries remain “current.”
EB-2: Cut-off dates advanced by one week to November 22, 2022, for all countries except India and China, which continued to remain at March 1, 2012, and January 1, 2020, respectively.
EB-3: Professionals and Skilled Workers category final action dates advanced by one week to September 8, 2022, for all countries except India and China. India remained at July 1, 2012, and China at September 1, 2020.
The EB-3 Other Workers category advanced by one week to September 08, 2020, for all countries except India, China, and the Philippines, for which the dates remained unchanged from last month’s bulletin.
EB-4 and Certain Religious Workers category: The final action date advanced for all countries by more than six months to December 1, 2019.
EB-5: No Advancement for India and China Unreserved Category
There was no change in final action dates in the EB-5 category from last month.
In the unreserved EB-5 category, the cut-off dates remained unchanged for India at December 1, 2020, and for China at December 15, 2015. All other countries continued to be “current.”
The EB-5 set-aside reserved categories are also “current” for all nations, including India and China, indicating no backlog in these categories.
Chinese and Indian applicants who choose to invest in projects qualifying for these reserved visas can move forward with their immigration process as soon as they receive I-526E petition approval.
Dates for Filing
Whereas the “Final Action Date” chart reflects when a visa is expected to become available for the applicant’s nationality within their category, the “Dates for Filing” chart determines the date when an applicant can apply for a visa upon I-526E approval.
Dates for Filing Advance for EB-4, No Change for EB-5
The dates for filing remain unchanged from the previous month’s bulletin in all categories except for EB-4 and Certain Religious Workers category, which advanced to January 1, 2020, for all countries.
For EB-5, all reserved and unreserved categories are “current,” except for China and India, which have the same cut-off dates in the unreserved category as the February Visa Bulletin.
Faster Green Card With EB-5 Reserved Visas
The EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA) allocated 32% of the annual EB-5 visa quota as set-aside visas for projects in targeted employment areas (TEAs) and certain infrastructure projects—reserving 20% for rural areas, 10% for high-unemployment regions, and 2% for developmental infrastructure projects.
As per the March 2024 Visa Bulletin, these reserved categories are still “current” for all countries, i.e., there are no backlogs and visas are available for issuance.
EB-5 investors from high-demand countries, such as India and China, can avoid the long waiting time in the unreserved visa queue by selecting projects that qualify for these set-aside visas.
Rural EB-5 project investors can further speed up their Green Card process, as USCIS grants priority processing to rural I-526E petitions.
However, the supply of reserved visas is limited, and investors must start their EB-5 process as soon as possible to utilize this opportunity before these categories also become backlogged.
Embarking on the EB-5 Immigration Process
For real-life examples of how to go about the EB-5 process, including finding an immigration attorney and selecting a project, watch EB5AN’s investor interview series.
We also encourage you to schedule a free consultation with EB5AN and find out if EB-5 is right for you.
