October is always an exciting month as it is the start of the next federal fiscal year and is also when allocations of restricted visas get restored. The October 2024 visa bulletin has been released and shows some encouraging movement in many important categories. Oftentimes we look forward to October as being a month where we see progress in the backlog instead of retrogression (when the backlog worsens). hear the important highlights from the October Visa Bulletin:
Employment-Bulletin Updates
EB-1 Exceptional Ability remains current throughout the “Rest of World” categories. Only Chine and India are backlogged. EB-1 for China advances one week to November 8, 2022.
EB-2 for ROW, India, and Mexico remain current; but EB-2 China advances forward to March 22, 2020. October 1st will be a welcome date for EB-2 applicants, as this category capped-out in September and no more visas are available until the next annual allotment.
EB-3 ROW jumps forward two years (!) to November 15, 2022 and EB-3 India advances to November 1, 2012. EB-3 for China retrogresses to April 1, 2020 (five month retrogression).
Also in exciting news, USCIS confirmed that employment-based applications inside the United States will be able to file their green card application according to the “Date for Filing” chart in the Visa Bulletin, which is an exciting and welcome change to ease the human cost of America’s employment-based visa backlog.
Family Bulletin Updates
F1 for ROW, China and India remain at October 22, 2015. F1 for Mexico advances almost eight months, to January 1, 2003. F1 for Philippines remains constant.
F2A (Spouses and Children of Permanent Residents) advances by one week for ROW, China, and Philippines to November 22, 2021. India advances one week to November 22, 2021. Mexico advances five weeks to March 8, 2021.
F2B (Unmarried minor children of Permanent Residents) remains the same for ROW and advances six months for Mexico.
F3 (Married, adult children of US Citizens) remains the same for everyone except for Mexico, which advanced five months to March 1, 2000.
F4 (Siblings of U.S. Citizens) remains the same for ROW, but advances slightly for India to March 1, 2006 and advances even more slightly for Mexico to February 22, 2001.
Special Immigrant Juvenile Updates
Unfortunately, Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) remains at January 1, 2021, since the July 2024 Visa Bulletin. This number is critical because of how many applicants in the EB-4 category represents applications from juveniles who have been abandoned, abused, or neglected and are often in limbo in the Immigration Court. As the Immigration Court operates under its own crushing backlog, many cases simply cannot be resolved until SIJ visa numbers can be allocated (or until Congress raises the numerical caps).
