FY2024 Annual Visa Limits for EB-3 and EW Categories Reached in August

On August 16, 2024, the Department of State (DOS) announced that all available visa numbers for the Employment-Based Third Preference (EB-3) and Other Worker (EW) categories have been issued for Fiscal Year 2024 (FY2024). As the annual visa limit for the EB-3 and EW categories have been reached, the US Embassies and Consulates abroad are no longer able to issue immigrant visas for the rest of FY2024, which ends on September 30th.

Each fiscal year, 28.6 percent of the annual worldwide employment visa number limit is allotted to the EB-3 category, of which not more than 10,000 are available to the EW category.  The annual visa numbers will be reset for the new government fiscal year (FY2025) that will begin on  October 1, 2024. Although the availability of visa numbers for the EB-3 category significantly slowed near the end of FY2024 due to high demand - which resulted in the recent retrogression for Rest of World, Mexico, and the Philippines - the DOS stated in the September Visa Bulletin that it anticipates that the final action dates for the EB-3 category will advance at the start of FY2025 in October 2024. Upon the release and availability of new visa numbers, the US Embassies and Consulates may resume issuing immigrant visas in the EB-3 category.