October 2024 Visa Bulletin Predictions (2024)

FAQs

What is the prediction of the Visa Bulletin for 2024? ›

The fiscal year 2024 limit for family-sponsored preference immigrants determined in accordance with Section 201 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) is 226,000. The worldwide level for annual employment-based preference immigrants is at least 140,000.

These visa bulletin predictions are estimates based on recent movements in the family-based categories and should not be relied upon as legal advice.

The State Department also warned that high demand in the EB-2 and EB-3 categories “will most likely necessitate retrogression of the worldwide final action date (including Mexico and Philippines) in the next month to hold number use within the maximum allowed under the Fiscal Year 2024 annual limit.” The State ...

Below is a summary of the May Visa Bulletin, including Final Action Dates. (Spoiler alert: there are no changes from April.)

USCIS wait times are faster in 2024

Faster Approvals: Most of the most common applications are now being processed at pre-pandemic levels, often faster. Quickest Turnarounds: The wait time I-129F has decreased significantly in the first half of 2024, it's now 3 months for applications filed today.

The publication normally is issued the second or third week of each month. Visa Bulletin follows a standard format to sort the priority dates of the applicants and is broken down to the following visa categories: Preference Allocation for Family-sponsored immigrants (INA Section 203(a))

As discussed, the EB2 visa has stricter requirements than the EB3 visa. Due to this, the EB2 visa is known for having less of a visa backlog, or a situation where the demand for a particular visa is higher than the available supply of that visa. Thanks to this, there can be an extended waiting period.

As a general overview, the EB2 visa processing time usually takes about 18 months from start to finish, but it can take up to several years in certain cases (depending on your country of birth).

A. The Department of State (DOS) determined that the FY 2022 employment-based annual limit was 281,507 – more than double the typical annual total – due to unused family-based visa numbers from FY 2021 being allocated to the next fiscal year's available employment-based visas.

When there are more applications for a green card category in a given month than USCIS or the State Department was expecting, the cut-off dates for the subsequent month might move backwards. This is called a “visa retrogression,” and it's most common around September (the end of the government's fiscal year).

How many DV visas are available in 2024? ›

For DV-2024, 55,000 Diversity Visas are available. The Department of State selects more than 55,000 selectees to account for selectees who will not qualify for visas and those who will not pursue their cases to completion.

If not all demand could be satisfied, the category or foreign state in which demand was excessive was deemed oversubscribed. The final action date for an oversubscribed category is the priority date of the first applicant who could not be reached within the numerical limits.

Approximately 10 to 14 Months After Filing

Most Form I-130 petitions for immediate relatives are approved within a 10 to 14 month time frame, but they can take longer in some cases. If you are in the United States and also filed an application to adjust status, USCIS will begin reviewing Form I-485 at this point.

For Fiscal Year 2024, up to 55,000 Diversity Visas (DVs) will be available. There is no cost to register for the DV program. Applicants who are selected in the program (selectees) must meet simple but strict eligibility requirements to qualify for a DV.

There are several steps in receiving an EB3 visa application. Therefore, the EB3 processing time should take between 1 and 3 years for most EB3 visa applications to be processed.

2024 Entrant Status Check

DV-2024 Entrants have until September 30, 2024 to check the status of their entry through this website. The DV-2024 registration period was from October 5, 2022, until November 8, 2022. Click the link below to check DV-2025 and DV-2024 Entrant Status.