Analysis: November 2024 Visa Bulletin

A few days ago, the November 2020 Visa Bulletin was released by the U.S. Department of State. Although some changes have been made, some sections remain mostly unchanged from the previous Visa Bulletin. Are you curious to find out what the new Visa Bulletin is bringing? If that’s the case, you should read this article.

Overview of the November 2024 Visa Bulletin

It’s already known that the DOS is releasing monthly Visa Bulletins. These bulletins exist in order to confirm how available the statutorily limited visas are for certain immigrants. The availability for immigrant visas is confirmed in the Visa Bulletin based on several factors, such as priority date, preference category, and country of chargeability.

The priority date refers to the date when someone applied for a permanent labor certification with the Department of Labor. It could also mean the date when USCIS received a Form I-140, Immigration Petition for Alien Worker, from someone who is sponsored for employment-based permanent residence in a category where labor certification is not necessary.

In the Visa Bulletin, the priority date cut-off, as well as the USCIS confirmation of the date chart that will apply, will show the Form I-485 filing eligibility for the given month. The immigrant who is willing to submit a Form I-485 will need a priority date. This must be earlier than the applicable cut-off date found in the chart that USCIS is promoting from the Visa Bulletin currently available to be eligible for application.

Despite the USCIS offering their confirmation that the chart containing the “Dates for Filing” will only apply for a certain month to determine Form I-485 filing eligibility, there is also something else to keep in mind. The chart containing the “Final Action Date” will show who will have eligibility to have their Form I-485 adjudicated by USCIS. With that being said, just because someone is submitting the form, it doesn’t mean that the processing will be done immediately by USCIS. The Final Action Date cut-odds will be the ones determining how long it will take until an immigrant submitting a Form I-485 will become a permanent resident.

Not long ago, on October 29, 2020, the U.S. Department of State released the November 2020 Visa Bulletin. This is important and people were waiting for it so they could discover whether any changes have been made. After the release of the new bulletin, USCIS made an announcement. Apparently, they are going to keep accepting employment-based Forms I-485 based on the “Dates for Filing” from the Visa Bulletin this month.

For the most part, the employment-based priority date cut-offs on the “Dates for Filing” chart have remained the same, but the priority date cut-offs for employment-based categories in the “Final Action Dates” chart have been slightly changed.

This is very important because the “Date for Filing” priority date cut-offs advancement allowed many people to file a Form I-485, whereas before they had to worry about long backlogs. It’s beneficial for many people who would’ve otherwise had to wait a long time to file the form.

So, multiple immigrants who are employment-based and were born in India and the People’s Republic of China had the chance to file their Form I-485 last month. This was all thanks to the advancement of the priority date cut-offs in the “Dates for Filing” chart promoted by USCIS on October 1 of 2020. Now, a lot of people who didn’t have the chance to file a Form I-485 last month will be able to do it until November 2020 is reaching its end.

USCIS is honoring the State Department’s Dates for Filing chart for November 2020, and this is not the first time they’re doing this. In fact, it is the second consecutive month in which they decide to honor the Dates for Filing chart and not the Final Action Date chart.

Back in October, the chart had quite a lot of advancement. This was especially obvious for the EB-2 and EB-3 categories for China and India. As a result, many people had the opportunity to file an adjustment of status application after having to deal with a lengthy backlog.

Now, with the announcement of the November 2020 Visa Bulletin, it seems that they will keep accepting the filings for now, at least until November is over.

Employment-Based, First Preference (EB1) Category

There has been an advancement for the EB1 visa category, specifically for the India and China categories. The advancement is for the FA chart, which advanced to December 1, 2018, as the cutoff date. But for all the other countries of chargeability, the category stays the same. No change has been made for the DF chart for this category for November, so it stays the same as the October 2020 Visa Bulletin one.

Employment-Based, Second Preference (EB2) Category

An advancement has been made for the EB2 category as well. India is going to advance to September 22, 2009, for the FA chart. Meanwhile, on the same chart, China is moving to April 22, 2016. For all the other countries of chargeability, the category stays current. Also, when it comes to the DF chart for the EB2 category, there isn’t any movement in the November 2020 Visa Bulletin.

Employment-Based, Third Preference (EB3) Category

The EB3 category has some updates too in November’s Visa Bulletin. On the FA chart, the cutoff date advances to March 1, 2010, for India. Conversely, it moves to October 1, 2017, for China. For all the other countries of chargeability, the category remains current. As for the DF chart dates for the EB3 category, they didn’t suffer any changes.

EB3 Other Workers

Other EB3 workers will have their cutoff dates pretty much the same for every country, with the only exception being China. China has its FA chart cutoff date changed, unlike the other countries in this category. So, the cutoff date for China on the EB3 Other Workers FA chart has been moved to August 1, 2008.

When it comes to the DF chart for this category in the November 2020 Visa Bulletin, the only change that has been made is for China. The date on this chart moves up to May 1, 2009, for China.

Employment-Based, Fourth Preference (EB4) Category

On the EB4 category FA chart, something has been changed. The cutoff date moves to October 15, 2018, for EB4 Mexico. Meanwhile, for El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, the cutoff moves to November 1, 2017. For every other country of chargeability, the category stays current.

Employment-Based, Fifth Preference (EB5) Category

For the EB5 category, no movement has been made. Everything stays the same here.

Conclusion

All the employment-based immigrants must be aware of these changes if they are planning to submit their Form I-485. As you were able to see, while most of the dates stay the same for all categories and multiple countries, a few changes have been made on the charts, particularly for India and China, as well as Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. Keep these things in mind if you’re part of one of these categories and do the necessary arrangements.

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.

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