The US Department of State recently unveiled the December 2023 Visa Bulletin, offering a comprehensive breakdown of immigrant visa availability for both consular processing and adjustment of status applications in the upcoming month. The bulletin maintains unchanged cutoff dates for Indian green card applications, providing crucial information for applicants navigating the immigration process.
The bulletin distinguishes between “Final Action Dates” and “Dates for Filing Applications,” with the former dictating when adjustment of status applications can be filed and the latter guiding the consular processing route. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) selects either the Dates for Filing or Application Final Action Dates based on visa availability and demand, covering both Employment-Based (EB) and Family-Based (FB) immigrant visas.
For the EB-1 category, the Final Action Dates for India and China remain consistent, with India set at January 1, 2017, and China at February 15, 2022. The Dates for Filing visa applications in this category reveal specific cutoff dates for India, China, and other countries.
In the EB-2 category, India maintains its Final Action Dates at January 1, 2012, with slight adjustments for China. The Dates for Filing in this category remain steady for India, China, and other countries.
The EB-3 Professional/Skilled Workers category sees unchanged Final Action Dates for India, China, and other countries, with corresponding Dates for Filing outlined in the bulletin.
For Family-Based Green Card applications, the Dates of Filing are held at September 1, 2023, worldwide. Specific cutoff dates for various categories, such as F-1, F-2A, F-2B, F-3, and F-4, are provided for Indians.
The Final Action Date chart for Family-Sponsored cases remains consistent from the November 2023 visa bulletin, with specific cutoff dates for all countries and Mexico.
According to the Visa Bulletin, in fiscal year 2024, family-sponsored preference immigrants are capped at 226,000, while employment-based preference immigrants have a minimum worldwide allocation of 140,000. The per-country limit for preference immigrants is set at 7 percent of the total annual limits, with an additional 2 percent designated for dependent areas.
Source: Business Standards
