The November 2023 Visa Bulletin has been released, and as we predicted in our November 2023 Visa Bulletin Predictions article, there is very minimal movement of a few priority dates but otherwise, dates have mostly stayed stagnant from the October 2023 Visa Bulletin.
As expected, the priority dates released in the October 2023 Visa Bulletin were based on current on-hand applications and carefully reflect number use available for the 2024 fiscal year. The number of available visas is extremely low in comparison to demand for family and employment-based categories, which is causing the wait for immigration visas to remain extremely long.
Additionally, the USCIS and DOS has reported that they already have a significant number of visa applications in hand for employment-based visas – enough in hand already that would already fulfill available visas for FY 2024 and beyond. This is another reason why we expect priority dates, especially within the employment-based category, to remain stagnant, or even possibly retrogress, within the coming months.
Let’s take a look at the results of the November 2023 Visa Bulletin.
November 2023 Visa Bulletin Results
Here are the results of the November 2023 Visa Bulletin and the priority date changes for both family and employment-based categories.
Family-based
Final Action Date
- F1 Mexico – April 22, 2001 to May 1, (+9 Days)
- F2B Mexico – January 1, 2002 to May 1, 2002 (+4 Months)
- F3 Mexico – March 8, 1998 to March 22, 1998 (+14 Days)
- F4 Mexico – August 1, 2000 to September 15, 2000 (+1 Month 14 Days)
Date of Filing Application
- No changes
Employment-based
Final Action Date
- Certain Religious Workers for ROW, China, India, Mexico, Philippines – Unavailable to January 1, 2019
- EB2 Mexico and Philippines – July 8, 2022 to July 15, 2022 (+7 Days)
Date of Filing Application
- No changes
Certain Religious Workers Category to Expire Soon
A note added to the end of the November 2023 Visa Bulletin talked about the employment-based fourth preference category for Certain Religious Workers. While this category has changed from unavailable to a priority date of January 1, 2019 for all countries, this program is set to expire on November 17, 2023.
No visas for Certain Religious Workers may be issued overseas, or final action taken on adjustment of status cases, after midnight on November 16, 2023. If you have a visa under this category, you must be admitted into the U.S. no later than midnight on November 16, 2023.
This is true only if legislation is not passed that extends this category beyond the expiration date above.
December 2023 Visa Bulletin Predictions
For the December 2023 Visa Bulletin, there may be some retrogression in the India EB2 and EB3 categories. Family-based categories may make some small forward movement. Otherwise, we don’t expect to see any significant advancement in priority dates.
Check back soon for our detailed December 2023 Visa Bulletin Predictions article. See the U.S. Department of State website to view the November 2023 Visa Bulletin.
