In December’s visa bulletin, the final update of the year, there was no forward movement for either family-based or employment-based immigration categories. The priority dates for green card approvals and application submissions remained unchanged from the previous month.
According to the U.S. Department of State’s December 2024 visa bulletin, family-based immigration categories saw no progress in priority dates visa issuance and application failing dates across all categories.
For Family Preference 1 (unmarried adult children of U.S. citizens), the visa issuance priority date is set at October 22, 2015, and the application filing priority date at September 1, 2017. Family Preference 2A (spouses and children of permanent residents) saw no changes either, with a visa issuance priority date of January 1, 2022, and an application submission priority date of July 15, 2024.
Family Preference 2B (unmarried adult children of permanent residents) remained unchanged at May 1, 2016, for visa issuance and January 1, 2017, for application submission. Other categories, including Family Preference 3 (married children of U.S. citizens) and Family Preference 4 (siblings of U.S. citizens), also saw no changes.
Family Preference 3’s visa issuance date is April 15, 2010, with an application date of April 22, 2012, while Family Preference 4 is set at August 1, 2007, for visa issuance and March 1, 2008, for application submissions.
The employment-based categories, which saw significant advancements in October, the beginning of the fiscal year, remained frozen in both November and December.
Employment-Based Preference 2 (advanced degree professionals) and Preference 3 (skilled and unskilled workers) had no forward movement, with the priority date for Employment-Based 2 set at March 15, 2023, and for skilled workers in Preference 3 at November 15, 2022.
Meanwhile, Employment-Based Preference 1 (multinational executives and individuals with extraordinary abilities) and Employment-Based Preference 5 (investor visas) categories continue to remain current, meaning there are no backlogs. Employment-Based Preference 4 (religious workers) also saw no change, with both visa issuance and application submission dates set at January 1, 2021.
BY EUNBYUL KIM, YOUNGNAM KIM [kim.eb@koreadailyny.com]
