The Department of State (DOS) has issued its April 2024 Visa Bulletin. Like the March Visa bulletin, April’s Visa Bulletin also has forward movement in several family and employment-based immigrant visa categories, and none of the categories will retrogress. 

In terms of movement in the employment-based final action dates, almost all categories will move forward. The EB-1 category for nationals of India will move forward by five months, and nationals of China will move by one month and seventeen days. The EB-2 category will advance by over one month for nationals of all countries. Furthermore, the EB-3 category will move forward by two months and fourteen days for nationals of all countries, and for nationals of India, there will be a forward movement of one month and fourteen days.

For family-based categories, there will be some forward movement in the final action dates for the F-2A category, which will advance by two months and seventeen days  for nationals of all countries and the Philippines, and will advance by two months for nationals of Mexico. All other family-based categories will remain the same.

USCIS will continue to honor the Dates for Filing Chart for family-based immigrant petitions in April. However, employment-based immigrant petitions will need to use the Final Action Dates Chart. While the dates remain the same in April except for the F-4 category, these dates are still further ahead than the Final Action Dates, so beneficiaries of family-based immigrant petitions can get their applications filed and obtain interim benefits for employment and travel until the government can actually approve their green card application.

Employment-Based Movement 
In terms of movement in the employment-based final action dates, almost all categories will move forward. The EB-1 category for India will move forward by five months, and China will move by one month and seventeen days. The EB-2 category will advance by one month and twenty-four days for nationals of all countries. In the same category, nationals of China will see forward movement by one month, and nationals of India will see forward movement by one-month and fourteen days. Furthermore, the EB-3 category will move forward by two months and fourteen days for nationals of all countries, and by one month and fourteen days for nationals of India. Unfortunately, nationals of China in the EB-3 category will have no movement in April in this category.  

Here’s a chart for easy reference:

Family-based Movement

For family-based categories, overall, most categories will not have any forward movement in April except for the F-2A category, which  will advance by two months and seventeen days for everyone except for nationals of Mexico for whom the priority date will advance by two months. 

That said, USCIS will honor the Dates for Filing chart (further below) for family-based categories in which we see significant forward movement in the F-4 category for nationals of Philippines (priority date moves forward by an entire year!).  Nationals of India with immigrant petitions under the F-4 category also will move forward by one month and seventeen days. 

Here’s a chart for easy reference:

By way of reminder, the categories are:

• F-1 category:  unmarried sons and daughters of U.S. citizens

• F2-A category: spouses and children under 21 of lawful permanent residents

• F2-B category: unmarried adult children (over 21) of lawful permanent residents

• F-3 category:  married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens

• F-4 category:  siblings of U.S. citizens

WHAT DATES IN THE VISA BULLETIN SHOULD YOU USE FOR FILING YOUR ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS APPLICATION WITH USCIS?

If USCIS determines that there are more immigrant visas available for a fiscal year than there are known applicants for such visas, then USCIS will state here that you may use the Dates for Filing Visa Applications chart in the Department of State Visa Bulletin, which usually has dates later than the Final Action Dates noted above. Otherwise, USCIS will indicate on its website that you must use the Application Final Action Dates chart (above) to determine when you may file your adjustment of status application in the United States.

For April 2024, USCIS has confirmed the Dates for Filing (below) should be used for family-based categories. Employment-based categories must use the Final Action Dates (above).

If the priority date for your family-based category is before the date listed above and you are in the United States, you may file your application to adjust your status along with the applications for employment authorization and travel permission (assuming you have no bars to admissibility) with USCIS in April. 

The entire visa bulletin is available on the State Department’s website, which includes information on the diversity visa lottery and the EB-5 priority dates. 

If you would like more information on how to understand the monthly visa bulletin, please check out our blog post on this topic.

This alert is for informational purposes only.  Please contact us if you would like to discuss these developments further.