United States | EB-3, EW and EB-5 visas reach annual limit for FY 2024

The State Department recently announced that annual limits had been reached for EB-3, EW and EB-5 visas for fiscal year 2024.

Key Points:

• The issuance of all legally available visas in the Employment-Based Third Preference (EB-3) and Other Workers (EW) categories for FY 2024 has been completed.
• The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) limits the number of EB-3 and EW visas to 28.6% of the worldwide employment limit, of which not more than 10,000 may be made available in the EW category.
• The annual limit for the Employment-Based Fifth Preference (EB-5) visa has also been reached.
• INA limits the number of EB-5 visas to 7.1% of the worldwide employment limit. Unused EB-5 reserved visas from FY 2022 may be made available in the EB-5 unreserved category for FY 2024.
• Since all available EB-3, EW and EB-5 visas for FY 2024 have been used, embassies and consulates may not issue visas in these categories for the remainder of the fiscal year.
• The annual limits for EB-3, EW and EB-5 visas will reset with the start of the new fiscal year (FY 2025) on Oct. 1, 2024.

Additional Information: Maximizing EB-3 and EW visas facilitates legitimate travel for essential workers across many industries that greatly benefit the U.S. economy, particularly in the healthcare sector. EB-5 visas create employment opportunities throughout the United States.

This alert has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice Group.

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