December 2024 Visa Bulletin

The visa bulletin of December 2020 is the third and final visa bulletin for the FY2021. The first two editions were good for employment-based visas, but the last is on the slower side in terms of employment. Also, most visa categories have their final action dates in advance. If you’ve been waiting for the dates from the State Department to move forward with your visa application, then here’s an overview of the published bulletin for December.

For December, all family-based visas except F-2A and employment-based visa applicants must be filed according to the “Dates of Filing,” which is available on the website of the Department of State. F-2A applicants are requested to use the “Final Action Dates” instead. The bulletin summarizes the dates for both Final Action Dates and Dates for Final Application.

Here are the updates on different types of visas.

EB-1 Visa Updates

The EB-1 visa is the primary employment-based visa type. The December bulletin has kept all the countries current in November except for China and India. The two countries will advance by four months, which is now April 1, 2019. Current, if you’re unaware of the term, means that there is no backlog present in that particular category. If you find a “U,” then it means the category is unavailable at the moment, and applying for permanent residency through that visa is not possible.

EB-2 Visa Updates

The EB-2 visa is the second preference green card category that is granted to people with advanced degrees and skill sets. Just like the EB-1 visa, all countries remain current except China and India. China will advance by one week to May 1, 2016, and India will also advance by a week to October 1, 2009.

EB-3 Visa Updates

EB-3 visa, the third preference visa awarded to certain “skilled workers” and professionals, was retrogressed for Indian applicants. The faster processing rate of EB-3 applications since October encouraged many EB-2 applicants to downgrade to EB-3. This increased the demand for the EB-3 visa, much more among the Indian petitioners. Thus to manage the number of applications, USCIS had no option but to limit the number of applications available in this category.

Furthermore, it retrogressed the Indian EB-3 applications by one year. And the prediction is this retrogression is likely to continue until there’s a reduction in the number of applications. India advances to March 15, 2010, by one week while China advances by a month to November 1, 2017. The rest of the countries remain at current in November.

EB-5 Visa Updates

The fifth preference employment-based visa is awarded to investors. Excluding China and Vietnam, the status is current for Non-Regional Center programs for all countries. China still remained on August 15, 2015. Vietnam advances two weeks to September 1, 2017. It’s worth mentioning that the Regional Center program will be expiring at midnight on December 11, 2020. Post that, it will become unavailable until and unless reauthorized.

You can readjust your EB application, provided that your priority date is earlier than the date listed on the update for your particular preference category.

Family-based 2A Updates

If this is your first time reading the bulletin and you’re applying for a family-based visa, then here’s what you need to know:

• If you’re a spouse, unmarried children not above the age of 21, or parent of a US-based citizen, then the bulletin is irrelevant to you because there are no wait times. Your application will be processed at the earliest.
• If you’re the spouse or unmarried children under the age of 21 of a US-based green card holder, then wait times can be as high as 12-18 months.
• For all other family-based visa applications, the wait times can be somewhere from years to decades.

The 2A category is only applicable to spouses and children of US permanent residents. In the December 2020 visa bulletin, the FB-2A category has a “current” status. So if the eligible dependents are presently living in the US, they can file for the I-458 AOS to adjust their status. New petitioners can also file their applications and expect a quicker processing time frame. If you’re filing I-130 and I-485 at the same time, then it’s possible as long as the status for FB-2A remains current.

The Department of State has confirmed that FB-2A status might not remain current for long. Retrogression is expected in the next few months as applicants switch their application type. Also, since the US. Consular & the NVC target to complete all the pending formalities and interviews, you should complete the application at the earliest.

Final Action Cut Off Dates for December 2024

EB-1

• China: April 1, 2019
• India: April 1, 2019
• All other countries: Current                                                                           

EB-2

• China: May 1, 2016
• India: October 1, 2009
• ·All other countries: Current

EB-3 Professionals and Skilled Workers 

• China: November 1, 2017
• India: March 15, 2010
• All other countries: Current

EB-3 Other Workers 

• China: February 15, 2009
• India: March 15, 2010
• All other countries: Current

EB-4

• El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras: February 1, 2018
• Mexico: November 22, 2018
• All other countries: Current

EB-5

• China: August 15, 2015
• Vietnam: September 1, 2017
• All other countries: Current

Filing Cut-off Dates for December 2024

EB-1 

• China: November 1, 2020
• India: November 1, 2020
• All other countries: Current

EB-2

• China: October 1, 2016
• India: May 15, 2011
• All other countries: Current 

EB-3 Professionals and Skilled Workers 

• China: June 1, 2018
• India: January 1, 2014
• All other countries: Current

EB-3 Other Workers 

• China: May 1, 2009
• India: January 1, 2014
• All other countries: Current

EB-4

• El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras: May 1, 2018
• All other countries: Current

EB-5

• China: December 15, 2015
• All other countries: Current

Conclusion

Even if the term of former President Donald Trump has ended, the significant restrictions he had imposed will remain in place. The restrictions have affected both employment-based and family-based visas. The travel restrictions because of the COVID-19 pandemic also played a role in delaying the visa application process. As things get back to normal, we can expect the process to speed up in some categories.

Frank Gogol

I’m a firm believer that information is the key to financial freedom. On the Stilt Blog, I write about the complex topics — like finance, immigration, and technology — to help immigrants make the most of their lives in the U.S. Our content and brand have been featured in Forbes, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, and more.

See author's posts