The June 2024 Visa Bulletin has arrived with a familiar tune of positivity, echoing the trend set by its predecessors earlier in the year. The announcement brings in another round of encouraging shifts in priority dates, maintaining the streak of favorable updates. Surpassing expectations, the number of positive shifts observed in June rivals not only the May 2024 Visa Bulletin Announcement but also stands out among the significant months of the year. The dedication of USCIS to streamline visa processing is evident, The USCIS’s commitment to streamlining the visa granting process is very apparent. In the previous years, seeing such high numbers of positive shifts consecutively was unprecedented. In the June Visa Bulletin, both categories that had seen shifts multiple times this year and those that had gone stagnant for a few visa bulletin announcements saw pushes in dates.
Let’s take a look at the results of the June 2024 Visa Bulletin.
June 2024 Visa Bulletin Results
Here are the results of the June 2024 Visa Bulletin and the priority date changes for both family and employment-based categories.
Family-based
Final Action Date
- F1 Mexico – October 15, 2001 to January 1, 2002 + 2 months & 17 days
- F2 All Other Chargeable Areas – June 1, 2021 to November 15, 2021 + 5 months & 14 days
- F2 China – June 1, 2021 to November 15, 2021 + 5 months & 14 days
- F2 India – June 1, 2021 to November 15, 2021 + 5 months & 14 days
- F2 Mexico – November 2, 2020 to February 1, 2021 + 2 months & 30 days
- F2 Philippines – June 1, 2021 to November 15, 2021 + 5 months & 14 days
- F2B Mexico – March 1, 2004 to July 8, 2004 + 4 months & 7 days
- F3 All Other Chargeable Areas – January 1, 2010 to March 1, 2010 + 2 months
- F3 China – January 1, 2010 to March 1, 2010 + 2 months
- F3 India – January 1, 2010 to March 1, 2010 + 2 months
- F3 Mexico – July 22, 1999 to December 1, 1999 + 4 months & 9 days
- F3 Philippines – August 1, 2002 to August 22, 2002 + 21 days
- F4 Mexico – January 22, 2001 to February 1, 2001 + 10 days
- F4 Philippines – September 8, 2003 to December 1, 2003 + 2 months & 23 days
Date of Filing Application
- F2B Mexico – September 1, 2004 to November 1, 2004 + 2 months
- F3 All Other Chargeable Areas – June 1, 2010 to September 1, 2010 + 3 months
- F3 China – June 1, 2010 to September 1, 2010 + 3 months
- F3 India – June 1, 2010 to September 1, 2010 + 3 months
- F4 Mexico – April 22, 2001 to April 27, 2001 + 5 days
- F3 All Other Chargeable Areas – March 10, 2001 to June 1, 2010 + 1 month
- F3 China – March 10, 2001 to June 1, 2010 + 1 month
- F3 India – March 10, 2001 to June 1, 2010 + 1 month
- F4 India – April 8, 2006 to June 15, 2006 + 2 months & 7 days
- F4 Philippines – April 22, 2005 to June 1, 2005 + 1 month & 8 days
Employment-based
Final Action Date
- EB3 India – August 15, 2012 to August 22, 2012 + 7 days
- Other Workers India – August 15, 2012 to August 22, 2012 + 7 days
Date of Filing Application
- No Changes
Will Decreased Visa Demand Lead to Positive Shifts?
As we have covered in our predictions article, we were beginning to worry that there was a possibility of retrogression in priority dates due to the USCIS’s recent efforts to streamline the visa application and approval process. We had suspected that the recent reforms would lead to an increase in visa demand. As we have seen in the past, the Visa Bulletin results are highly dependent on visa demand and the USCIS’s capability to process those visas. If the USCIS saw an increase of visa demand following the various reforms they set into place over the last couple of months, there was a fear that the USCIS would pull back on dates.
Despite fears of increased visa demand following process reforms, the reality proved otherwise. In a recent announcement from the USCIS, we have come to learn that the reforms to the process has actually lead to a decrease in visa demand. The H-1B FY 2025 Lottery this year saw a 38.6% decrease in visa applications.
We predict these reforms aimed to enforce stricter rules to ensure higher quality visa applications, have consequently decreased the visa demand due to the decrease in low quality applications. The decrease in visa demand is a positive development, especially for those waiting for more favorable dates in the Visa Bulletin, as it suggests faster processing times.
Let us continue to hope that we see more decrease in visa demand, and, therefore, more Visa Bulletin priority dates will get to see the positive effects.
July 2024 Visa Bulletin Predictions
While the reduced visa demand brings us optimistic hope, it’s essential to remain realistic and vigilant. Despite the overall positive trend in priority date shifts, many categories in the June visa bulletin saw minimal advancements, with increases as little as 5 days. Although some of these categories may not have high demand, such minimal progress raises concerns. Several major categories also experienced modest advancements, unlike the significant pushes observed in previous months. No matter how positive these shifts were, it is still notable that so many categories saw such minimal change.
While the exact reasons for these trends are unclear, it’s crucial to stay alert for any potential shifts in the upcoming July 2024 Visa Bulletin. Is there enough reason for us to worry that the next Visa Bulletin updates will see a even smaller positive shift until, eventually we see stagnancy or even retrogression? While we hope for another installment of positive shifts, there’s a possibility of a decrease in the number of favorable changes or even stagnancy.
Nevertheless, we remain hopeful that the July 2024 Visa Bulletin will continue the streak of positive shifts in priority dates, marking the seventh consecutive month of encouraging updates in the 2024 visa bulletin season.
Let’s keep our fingers crossed for another round of positive news in the July 2024 Visa Bulletin.
Check back soon for our detailed July 2024 Visa Bulletin Predictions article. See the U.S. Department of State website to view the June 2024 Visa Bulletin.
