The U.S. Department of State has released the April 2024 Visa Bulletin. The bulletin showed significant advancement in the cut-off dates for most employment-based categories. The EB-5 category, however, registered no change.
The Visa Bulletin also mentioned that recent trends in final action date movements must not be assumed to be guaranteed for the future and that retrogressions may be required. It further stated that the actual monthly final action dates are subject to fluctuations in applicant demand and other variables.
Final Action Dates
EB-5 India and China Unreserved Cut-off Dates Continue, Reserved Categories Still Current
Dates for Filing
No Change in EB-5 Dates for Filing, Advancement in Other Categories
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 April 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.
Most EB Categories Make Significant Progress
EB-1: Final action date for India advanced by five months to March 1, 2021, and for China by six weeks to September 1, 2022. All other countries continue to be “current.”
EB-2: India advanced by six weeks to April 15, 2012, and China by one month to February 1, 2020. All other countries advanced by seven weeks to January 15, 2023.
EB-3: Professionals and Skilled Workers category final action dates advanced for India by six weeks to August 15, 2012. All other countries advanced by ten weeks to November 22, 2022, except China, which remained unchanged at September 1, 2020.
The EB-3 Other Workers category advanced to August 15, 2012, for India and to October 8, 2020, for all countries except China and the Philippines, for which the dates remained unchanged from last month’s bulletin.
EB-4: The final action date advanced for all countries by eleven months to November 1, 2020.
Certain Religious Workers category: This category is set to expire on March 22, 2024, unless extended. Hence, the bulletin indicates cut-off dates under this category as “U” or unauthorized for all countries.
EB-5 India and China Unreserved Cut-off Dates Continue, Reserved Categories Still Current
Final action dates in the EB-5 category remain unchanged from the March 2024 Visa Bulletin.
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 remain “current” for all nations, including India and China, indicating no backlog in these categories.
Investors 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 submit the final immigrant visa application.
EB-5 investors must have an approved I-526E petition before they can file their visa application.
No Change in EB-5 Dates for Filing, Advancement in Other Categories
The EB-5 dates for filing are unchanged from the previous month’s Visa Bulletin. All reserved and unreserved categories remain “current,” except for India and China, the cut-off dates being April 1, 2022, and January 1, 2017, respectively.
EB-1 cut-off dates advanced for India to April 1, 2021, with no change for any other country.
There was no change in any of the EB-2 category cut-off dates for filing.
EB-3 and Other Workers categories also progressed only for India to September 15, 2012.
EB-4 category cut-off dates advanced to December 1, 2020, for all countries.
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 areas, and 2% for infrastructure projects.
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 a rural EB-5 project. The high-unemployment TEA category is already experiencing very high demand.
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.
