On August 16, 2024, the U.S. State Department (DOS) has announced that the annual limits for the Employment-Based Fifth Preference (EB-5) unreserved immigrant visa category have been met for FY 2024. This is the first announcement of this type from DOS since the enactment of the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act (RIA) and marks a significant development as DOS and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) work to reduce the EB-5 backlog and improve processing times.
As a result of this announcement, this category is immediately unavailable and will remain so through September 30, the end of the fiscal year. This means that U.S. embassies and consulates cannot issue immigrant visas, and USCIS cannot approve adjustment of status applications in the EB-5 unreserved category through September 30.
The annual immigrant visa limits will reset with the start of the new fiscal year (FY 2025) on October 1, 2024. At that point, USCIS will be able to resume approving adjustment of status cases, and U.S. embassies and consulates will be able to resume issuing immigrant visas in this category.
USCIS should continue to accept adjustment of status filings that are current in the DOS Visa Bulletin for August 2024 and September 2024; however, cases in the unavailable category will be held for adjudication until visa numbers are available. Foreign nationals with scheduled adjustment of status interviews should plan to attend their interviews but they should also be aware that the USCIS officer may decide to reschedule the interview in light of the exhaustion of the quota in this category.
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