The October 2024 visa bulletin for EB-3 Other Workers has advanced 6 months in the Dates for Filing chart to May 22, 2021.  This is a similar jump forward that we’ve seen from the October 2023 visa bulletin, which was the biggest jump forward since the covid era regressed the visa bulletin in 2022.  So, this is very encouraging to see!  We are expecting for the visa bulletin to continue advancing throughout this next year.

For context, the federal government’s fiscal year begins on October 1. With the start of every new fiscal year, the immigrant visa numbers reset for each visa category.  When we see the visa bulletin advancing, that means that USCIS has been able to advance several months in their processing of prior visa applications.  The visa bulletin had become very retrogressed and backlogged from the government shutdowns during the covid era; however, we are seeing USCIS working towards advancing the visa bulletin to become more current.

If we were to make predictions for this year’s visa bulletin based on what we saw last year, it would be likely that we will see several more advances after the New Year.  In the 2023–2024 FY, the visa bulletin also advanced 6 months during the October visa reset and followed up with advancing several more months throughout the year. For the second half of the 2023-2024 FY, we saw the visa bulletin advance several times by a month to two months through the end of the FY.  Based on past performance, we can expect for the same trend to continue throughout the upcoming FY and potentially some larger gains. It is my belief that we will start to see the retrogression reduce even further this year to become more current.

Click HERE to view the current September visa bulletin and the upcoming October visa bulletin to view priority dates for the Employment-Based categories.

WHAT ARE PRIORITY DATES? WHAT IS THE VISA BULLETIN?
There are priority dates because there are more immigrant visa applicants than there are immigrant visas available each year.  Congress establishes annual limits on the number of immigrant visas issued, currently at 140,000, aiming to regulate immigration numbers effectively. The U.S. Department of State (DOS) plays a crucial role in this process by publishing the monthly Visa Bulletin, which outlines cut-off dates governing visa availability.  These cut-off dates determine when applicants become eligible to apply for permanent resident status, based on their priority dates.

Applicants affected by visa retrogression must wait until their priority date is current to file for a Green Card.  Even though the Visa Bulletin seems like a far-off date compared to right now, you have to remember that it is a year and a half to two years between receiving your priority date and filing your Green Card application.  Thus, the wait time will be much smaller by the time we are able to file for your workers’ Green Cards, giving your company enough time to bring your workers back on H-2B visas and to file for their Green Cards in the U.S.

For individuals facing visa retrogression, it is essential to remain informed and continue working with ULS and your H-2B agent to avoid further delays.  Visa retrogression is a temporary obstacle in the immigration journey.

ULS will continue to track your priority date and immediately inform you when you will be eligible to file for your workers’ Green Cards. Stay tuned for more updates on the Visa Bulletin and other exciting topics.

PERM UPDATES
As of August 2024, DOL is working on the July 2023 for PERM applications.  The DOL has now finished their transition to the new PERM online filing system that feature several integrations with the prior Prevailing Wage Determinations.  This is a much more streamlined approach that we expect to have a positive impact on decreasing PERM processing times.

OTHER VISA UPDATES
As of August 2024, all visa allotments have been reached for EB3, EB2, and EB1 for 2023–2024 FY.  These numbers will reset October 1, 2024 with the new federal fiscal year.