Visa Bulletin for February 2012

Most immigrant visas to the United States are numerically limited both by preference category and by country of chargeability (which is, in most cases, one’s country of birth). Most immigrants are sponsored either by family members who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents or, alternately, through their employment or investment in the U.S.

Scroll down this page to see the current State Department Visa Bulletin showing backlogs in both the family and the employment immigrant visa preference categories for the month of February 2012.

“Carl is a lawyer’s lawyer. He has worked for the Service and has a great gut feel for where Immigration is coming from and what will happen with a case. He loves what he does and it shows. He cares about clients and will fight for them in court-something some are afraid to do. He is knowledgeable about the law and has an intellectual curiosity and flexibility to look outside the box at legal issues. He has drafted legislation that has been enacted and become law. His office is well run and the people working for him are happy, professional and thorough in their representation-this is no small task for attorneys who are never trained in law school about how to run an office. It also matters for clients-they get better service from a happy, professional staff. All in all, I highly endorse Carl.” (More attorney endorsements…)

- Ann Pinchak, Immigration Attorney, Houston, TX

FAMILY CATEGORIES

EMPLOYMENT CATEGORIES

PREDICTIONS FOR THE COMING MONTHS

The State Department made the following predictions in the October 2011 Visa Bulletin concerning the forward movement of priority dates during the next few months:

Family-Sponsored Categories

Worldwide Dates

F1: three to six weeks per month

F2A: three to six weeks per month

F2B: one to two weeks per month

F3: one to two weeks per month

F4: up to four weeks per month

Employment-Sponsored Categories

“China and India: The current cut-off date is approaching the most favorable date previously reached for applicants from China and India. The rapid forward movement is intended to generate demand based on new filings for adjustment of status at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services offices, which currently accounts for over 85% of all Employment-based number use. Once the level of demand increases sufficiently, it may be necessary to slow or stop the cut-off movement, and a retrogression of the cut-offs at some point during the year is a distinct possibility.”

Worldwide: up to four weeks per month

China: one to three weeks per month

India: up to two weeks per month

Mexico: up to four weeks per month

Philippines: up to four weeks per month

Caveat: “Please be advised that the above date ranges are only estimates for the next few months, and are subject to fluctuations in demand.”

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Persons born in countries other than India, China, Mexico and the Philippines should look in the “Worldwide” current on the left side of the page to determine their “priority date”. A priority date is established by the submission of a relative visa petition in the family categories, and by either the submission of an application for alien labor certification or by the submission of an employment-based visa petition in the employment categories.

The word “Current” indicates that no backlog presently exists in a particular category. Alternately, the word “Unavailable” indicates that it is not possible to apply for permanent residence in that category.

If you are unfamiliar with the Visa Bulletin, here is an explanation of the Family Categories and the Employment Categories.

The dates in the Visa Bulletin can be misleading. Some dates, particularly in the Employment Based Categories, are “current” now, but may backlog before you can say “I-485″. Others, particularly in the Family Based Categories, look closer on the Bulletin than they are in reality. To see the rate of advance in a particular category, check the State Department’s Visa Bulletin Archive. This allows you to see Visa Bulletins from February 1995 to the present.

See the complete State Department Visa Bulletin.