US Department of State Releases March 2024 Visa Bulletin

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will use the Final Action Dates chart in March 2024 for employment-based filings for adjustment of status. The utilization of the Final Action Dates chart will delay the ability of applicants from several categories to file Adjustment of Status applications.

The US Department of State has released its March 2024 Visa Bulletin outlining per-country priority date cutoffs that regulate immigrant visa availability and the flow of adjustment of status applications for consular immigrant visa application filings and approvals.

WHAT DOES THE MARCH 2024 VISA BULLETIN SAY?

The bulletin includes both a Dates for Filing Visa Applications chart and an Application Final Action Dates chart. The former indicates when intending immigrants may file their applications for adjustments of status or immigrant visas, and the latter indicates when adjustment of status applications or immigrant visa applications may be approved and permanent residence granted.

Each month, the USCIS chooses which chart it will follow. For March 2024, the USCIS will follow the Final Action Dates chart for employment-based (EB) filings for adjustment of status. This means that individuals seeking to file applications for adjustment of status with the USCIS in March 2024 must use the Final Action Date chart below.

FINAL ACTION CUTOFF DATES

To be eligible to file an EB adjustment application in March 2024, a foreign national must have a priority date that is earlier than the date listed below for their preference category and country. The “C” listing indicates that the category is current, and applications may be filed regardless of the applicant’s priority date. The listing of a date for any category indicates that only applicants with a priority date that is earlier than the listed date may file their applications.

SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENTS

USCIS announced that it will follow the Final Actions Dates chart for employment-based filings in March 2024. The transition to the Final Actions Dates chart comes earlier in the year than usual and indicates that USCIS no longer forecasts that there are more immigrant visas available for a fiscal year than there are known applicants.

While there is little movement in the March 2024 Final Actions Dates chart compared to that of the previous month, USCIS’s utilization of the Final Actions Dates chart will delay the ability of applicants from several categories to file Adjustment of Status applications, with retrogression ranging from 2.5 months to 10 months. EB-3 India applicants and all Other Workers applicants will see minimal advancement in the priority date required to file an Adjustment of Status application.