Introduction

On November 12 2024, the US Department of State (DOS) shared the December 2024 visa bulletin. Not much has changed in the popular visa categories compared to last month. The dates listed for the cutoff are from the final chart, unless mentioned differently. The final date you can apply for India EB-2 is moving up by two weeks to August 1, 2012.

The final date for India EB-3 is moving up by one week to November 8, 2012. All other dates for applying will stay the same in December. The dates for filing your application will also stay the same in December.
Employment-based category in the visa bulletin

- EB-1 category.

EB-1 category is still current for all countries except China and India. China has moved forward to November 8, 2022 cutoff date and for India, it has moved forward to February 1, 2022 cutoff date.

- EB-2 category.

Only India is advancing in the EB-2 category, and the most recent movement was August 1st, 2012. China remains stuck on a date of March 22nd, 2020 while all other countries remain at March 15th, 2023 in the EB2 category.

- EB-3 category.

Just like EB-2, EB-3 is also still very current. India moved its date to November 8, 2012, and China is still at April 1, 2020. The rest of the EB-3 categories moved to March 15, 2023.

- EB-3 other workers.

India also updated its EB-3 other workers deadline to November 8, 2012. China's is still at January 1, 2017. The other countries in the EB3 other workers category are still at December 1, 2020.

- EB-4 category.

The EB-4 category's deadline for all countries is still at January 1, 2021.

- EB-5 category.

The cutoff date for the not-reserved group in the EB-5 category is January 1, 2021. For India, under the not-reserved group, it is now at January 1, 2022. The rest of the countries and categories are still at their respective original deadlines in EB-5.

Family-based category in the visa bulletin

Below is the visa bulletin, which outlines, from the governmental perspective, who gets immigration through family sponsorship, broken down in order of preference and number of available spots. This is very important to individuals hoping to attain green cards. That is because, for 2024, there are only 226,000 places available for those sponsored by their family members, with various categories set aside for different types of family members. They also have rules to make sure everyone from different countries gets an equal chance.

Here is a short summary about the different family sponsorship categories:

1. First preference: For unmarried children and spouses of US citizens. There are 23,400 visas for this category, plus any left over from the other categories.

2. Second preference: This includes the spouses and kids of permanent residents, kids and spouses of US citizens who are unmarried. To this category, there is an allotment of 114,200 spots plus additional spots from the worldwide family preference and any spots left over from the first preference.

o F2A: Spouses and children of permanent residents. This accounts for 77 percent of the second preference, and 75 percent of these do not count against the limit of people from the same country.

o F2B: Children and spouses of permanent residents who happen to be 21 years or older: 23 percent of the spots in the second preference.

3. Third preference: For married children and spouses of US citizens, with a total of 23,400 spots.

4. Fourth preference: For brothers and sisters of adult US citizens, totaling 65,000.

Following are the dates you should know if you are an Indian applicant and wish to obtain a family-sponsored visa: If your priority date is before the dates below, then you may begin collecting your documents and send them to the National Visa Center of the Department of State after receiving a notice from them with all the details.

Final words!

The US visa bulletin is a monthly update that tells you when you can expect to get a green card, helping people figure out when they might move forward in their immigration process based on how many applications are still waiting.

Every month, the Department of State checks how many visas are left and changes things up based on how many applications there are in different categories. Gehi and Associates will keep an eye on and share news about any changes and what we think will happen with the monthly visa bulletin.

To stay updated and informed, keep an eye out on our visa bulletin section or visit – https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin.html