The U.S. Visa Bulletin for May has been released, showing updates on the availability of immigrant visa numbers for both Final Action Dates and Dates for Filing Applications. These dates help determine when applicants should be notified to submit documentation to the National Visa Center.
India continues to show high demand in the EB-5 unreserved visa categories. Combined with increased usage from other countries, this has resulted in a further retrogression of the final action date for India to stay within the annual limits for fiscal year 2025. If this trend continues, a final action date might also be set for applicants from the rest of the world.
There are no changes in the EB-1 and EB-2 categories this month. For EB-1, India stays at February 15, 2022, and China remains at November 8, 2022. All other countries are still current. In the EB-2 category, India remains at January 1, 2013, and China at October 1, 2020, while other countries remain current at June 22, 2023.
In the EB-3 category, India sees a slight advancement of two weeks to April 15, 2013. China stays at November 1, 2020. All other countries hold at January 1, 2023.
For EB-5 unreserved visas, China’s date remains at January 22, 2014. India sees a six-month retrogression to May 1, 2019. All other countries are current. The EB-5 set-aside categories for Rural, High Unemployment, and Infrastructure remain unaffected and continue to be current.
In May, the USCIS will accept employment-based adjustment of status applications from foreign nationals with a priority date earlier than the date listed for their specific category and country.
The Department of State issues a monthly Visa Bulletin to outline cut-off dates for visa availability, guiding applicants on when they may file for adjustment of status or apply for permanent residency. Eligibility is based on whether the applicant’s priority date falls before the listed cut-off date.
For fiscal year 2025, the limit for family-sponsored preference immigrants is 226,000. The annual worldwide cap for employment-based preference immigrants is at least 140,000. According to Section 202 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the per-country cap is 7% of the combined annual limits, or 25,620. The dependent area limit is set at 2%, or 7,320.
Cut-off dates usually move forward as the year progresses, but fluctuations in visa demand can cause the movement to slow, stop, or even retrogress. Retrogression occurs when more applicants from a particular country or category apply than the number of visas available for that period. This often happens toward the end of the fiscal year when limits are close to being reached. In some cases, a priority date that was current one month might no longer be current the next.
When a new fiscal year begins on October 1, a fresh allocation of visas becomes available. While this can sometimes return cut-off dates to previous levels, it is not guaranteed.
