January 2025 Immigration Visa Bulletin Released

The Department of State released the January 2025 Visa Bulletin and USCIS has confirmed they will accept employment-based Adjustment of Status applications based on the Dates for Filing chart. All employment-based categories pursuant to Dates for Filing will continue to hold steady with no advancement observed in January. The Final Action Dates chart notes slight advancement for EB-2 and EB-3 Professionals and Skilled Workers by approximately two weeks to two months depending on the employment-based category and country.

EMPLOYMENT-BASED (EB) PRIORITY DATE SUMMARY FOR DATES FOR FILING 

USCIS confirmed that it will honor the Dates for Filing chart for purposes of eligibility to file an Adjustment of Status application. The Dates for Filing  are as follows:

EB-1, First Preference Category

• EB-1 Worldwide (including El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, Mexico, and Philippines) remains current.
• EB-1 China: Dates for Filing will maintain a filing cutoff date of January 1, 2023.
• EB-1 India: Dates for Filing will maintain a filing cutoff date of April 15, 2022.

 EB-2, Second Preference Category

• EB-2 Worldwide (including El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, Mexico, and Philippines) will continue to hold steady at August 1, 2023.
• China: Dates for Filing will remain at October 1, 2020.
• India:  Dates for Filing will remain at January 1, 2013.

EB-3, Third Preference Category (Professional and Skilled Workers)

• EB-3 Worldwide (including El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, Mexico and Philippines) will maintain a filing cut-off date of March 1, 2023.
• China: Dates for Filing will hold steady at November 15, 2020.
• India: Dates for Filing will hold steady at June 8, 2013.

Other Workers

• Other Workers (including El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Philippines and Mexico) will remain at May 22, 2021.
• China and India will remain at January 1, 2018 and June 8, 2013, respectively.

EB-5: Fifth Preference Category (Immigrant Investors)

• For the EB-5 Unreserved categories (C5, T5, I5, and R5), India will hold steady at April 1, 2022 and China will maintain a cut-off date of October 1, 2016. All other countries will remain current.
• The EB-5 “Set-Aside” categories (Rural, High Unemployment, and Infrastructure) will remain current.

Individuals with a priority date that is before the published cut-off date may file an Adjustment of Status application based on the dates outlined above.

WHAT SHOULD EMPLOYERS EXPECT?  

As specified in the January Visa Bulletin, all employment-based categories will continue to hold steady under the Dates for Filing chart in January. Modest advancement observed under Final Action Dates for EB-2 and EB-3 Professionals and Skilled Workers by approximately two weeks to two months, depending on the employment-based category and country.

The Department of State notes in the January Visa Bulletin that it may become necessary to establish Dates for Filing and Final Action Dates for the EB-5 Rural, High-Unemployment, and Infrastructure “set aside” categories due to high demand in order to avoid exceeding annual limits.

As no forward movement under Dates for Filing has been observed over the past several months, this is likely due to the limited number of immigrant visas, increased demand, and processing delays at USCIS, which can slow the issuance of visas, preventing categories from advancing. Further policy changes and certain administrative priorities may also influence the movement in the Visa Bulletin. Accordingly, Employers are advised to communicate with Employees on delays and processing timelines for transparency and to consider proceeding with the green card process earlier due to ongoing stagnation in the Visa Bulletin and processing delays.

For additional information, please contact your designated Gibney representative or email info@gibney.com.