DOS Releases January 2024 Visa Bulletin

December 12, 2023

By: Marisabel C. Alonso, Esq.

The DOS posted its January 2024 Visa Bulletin. USCIS determined that for January 2024, applicants in family-based and employment-based preference categories must use the Dates for Filing chart.

The Dates for Filing chart remains the same as the December 2023 Visa Bulletin. Compared to last month’s visa bulletin, Final Action Dates in several family-based preference categories moved forward by months.

For employment-based preference categories, dates for filing dates also moved forward in several categories. Of note, the EB-1 preference category for Indian nationals moved up to January 1, 2021, from last month’s date of July 1, 2019. Further, the EB-3 Category for China-mainland-born individuals moved up to July 1, 2021, from last month’s date of September 1, 2020. There was also forward movement in several categories in the final action dates chart for employment-based preference categories.

To discuss what the dates in January’s Visa Bulletin may mean for your case, please request a consultation with one of our attorneys by filling out our Consultation Request Form.

FINAL ACTION DATES FOR FAMILY-SPONSORED PREFERENCE CASES

 

Family- Sponsored	All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA-mainland born	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
F1	01JAN15	01JAN15	01JAN15	01MAY01	01MAR12
F2A	01NOV19	01NOV19	01NOV19	22OCT19	01NOV19
F2B	01OCT15	01OCT15	01OCT15	22OCT03	22OCT11
F3	22APR09	22APR09	22APR09	08SEP98	08JUN02
F4	22MAY07	22MAY07	15NOV05	15SEP00	15OCT02

 

DATES FOR FILING FAMILY-SPONSORED VISA APPLICATIONS

Family- Sponsored	All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA- mainland born	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
F1	01SEP17	01SEP17	01SEP17	01APR05	22APR15
F2A	01SEP23	01SEP23	01SEP23	01SEP23	01SEP23
F2B	01JAN17	01JAN17	01JAN17	01AUG04	01OCT13
F3	01MAR10	01MAR10	01MAR10	15JUN01	08NOV03
F4	01MAR08	01MAR08	22FEB06	15APR01	22APR04

 

FINAL ACTION DATES FOR EMPLOYMENT-BASED PREFERENCE CASES

Employment- based	All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA- mainland born	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
1st	C	01JUL22	01SEP20	C	C
2nd	01NOV22	01JAN20	01MAR12	01NOV22	01NOV22
3rd	01AUG22	01SEP20	01JUN12	01AUG22	01AUG22
Other Workers	01SEP20	01JAN17	01JUN12	01SEP20	01MAY20
4th	15MAY19	15MAY19	15MAY19	15MAY19	15MAY19
Certain Religious Workers	15MAY19	15MAY19	15MAY19	15MAY19	15MAY19
5th Unreserved (including C5, T5, I5, R5)	C	08DEC15	01DEC20	C	C
5th Set Aside: Rural (20%)	C	C	C	C	C
5th Set Aside: High Unemployment (10%)	C	C	C	C	C
5th Set Aside: Infrastructure (2%)	C	C	C	C	C

 

DATES FOR FILING OF EMPLOYMENT-BASED VISA APPLICATIONS

Employment- based	All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA- mainland born	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
1st	C	01JAN23	01JAN21	C	C
2nd	15FEB23	01JUN20	15MAY12	15FEB23	15FEB23
3rd	01FEB23	01JUL21	01AUG12	01FEB23	01JAN23
Other Workers	15DEC20	01JUN17	01AUG12	15DEC20	15MAY20
4th	01SEP19	01SEP19	01SEP19	01SEP19	01SEP19
Certain Religious Workers	01SEP19	01SEP19	01SEP19	01SEP19	01SEP19
5th Unreserved (including C5, T5, I5, R5)	C	01JAN17	01APR22	C	C
5th Set Aside: (Rural – 20%)	C	C	C	C	C
5th Set Aside: (High Unemployment – 10%)	C	C	C	C	C
5th Set Aside: (Infrastructure – 2%)	C	C	C	C	C

Updated: 12/13/2023

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