VB TEST

Most immigrant visas to the U.S. 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 U.S. citizen or permanent resident relatives or, alternately, through their employment or investment in the United States. Scroll down this page to see the current State Department Visa Bulletin, showing backlogs in both the family and the employment-based categories.

If you are unfamiliar with the Visa Bulletin, read our explanation of the those currently applying.

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EMPLOYMENT-BASED CATEGORIES

The employment-based (EB) categories in the visa bulletin are as follows:

• EB-1 Priority Workers
• EB-2 Advanced Degree Professionals
• EB-3 Professionals & Other Workers
• EB-4 Religious Workers & Others
• EB-5 Investors

An applicant’s priority date is the day that the government received the employer’s PERM application. However, if a PERM application is not required, the priority date is the date the government received an EB visa petition (I-140, I-526). Watch our EB videos to see various methods of shortening your waiting time for a green card.

VISA BULLETIN – EMPLOYMENT

A. APPLICATION FINAL ACTION DATES FOR EMPLOYMENT-BASED PREFERENCE CASES– These dates are consistent with prior visa bulletin priority dates.

Employ- ment based	All Charge- ability Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA- mainland born	EL SALVADOR GUATEMALA HONDURAS	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
1st	C	01JAN12	C	01JAN12	C	C
2nd	C	01MAR13	C	01JUL08	C	C
3rd	15APR17	01OCT14	15APR17	15MAY05	15APR17	01MAY13
Other Workers	15APR17	15JUL06	15APR17	15MAY05	15APR17	01MAY13
4th	C	C	15JUL15	C	15JUL15	C
Certain Religious Workers	C	C	15JUL15	C	15JUL15	C
5th Non-Regional Center (C5 and T5)	C	08JUN14	C	C	C	C
5th Regional Center (I5 and R5)	C	08JUN14	C	C	C	C

B. DATES FOR FILING OF EMPLOYMENT-BASED VISA APPLICATIONS– These dates indicate when immigrant applicants can send adjustment of status applications without having to wait for their priority dates to become current.

Employment- based	All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA- mainland born	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
1st	C	C	C	C	C
2nd	C	01OCT13	01FEB09	C	C
3rd	C	01SEP15	22APR06	C	01JUL14
Other Workers	C	01JUN08	22APR06	C	01JUL14
4th	C	C	C	C	C
Certain Religious Workers	C	C	C	C	C
5th Non-Regional Center (C5 and T5)	C	01SEP14	C	C	C
5th Regional Center (I5 and R5)	C	01SEP14	C	C	C

FAMILY-BASED CATEGORIES

The family-based categories in the visa bulletin are as follows:

• F-1 Unmarried Adult Sons & Daughters of US Citizens
• F-2A Spouses & Children of LPRs
• F-2B Unmarried Adult Sons & Daughters of LPRs
• F-3 Married Sons & Daughters of US citizens
• F-4 Brothers & Sisters of US Citizens

An applicant’s priority date is the day that the government received the I-130 Petition. For more on family-based visas and how you can shorten your application time, see Attorney Shusterman’s video near the top of this page.

VISA BULLETIN – FAMILY

A. APPLICATION FINAL ACTION DATES FOR FAMILY-SPONSORED PREFERENCE CASES– These dates are consistent with prior visa bulletin priority dates.

Family- Sponsored	All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA-mainland born	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
F1	22DEC10	22DEC10	22DEC10	01SEP95	22APR06
F2A	15AUG15	15AUG15	15AUG15	22JUL15	15AUG15
F2B	22OCT10	22OCT10	22OCT10	08APR96	22SEP06
F3	01JUL05	01JUL05	01JUL05	22FEB95	08OCT94
F4	08MAY04	08MAY04	15SEP03	15JUL97	22NOV93

B. DATES FOR FILING FAMILY-SPONSORED VISA APPLICATIONS– These dates indicate when immigrant applicants can send adjustment of status applications without having to wait for their priority dates to become current.

Family- Sponsored	All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA- mainland born	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
F1	22JUL11	22JUL11	22JUL11	01APR96	08SEP07
F2A	08APR16	08APR16	08APR16	08APR16	08APR16
F2B	01SEP11	01SEP11	01SEP11	08AUG96	22JUL07
F3	01DEC05	01DEC05	01DEC05	01MAY95	01FEB95
F4	15NOV04	15NOV04	22JUN04	08JAN98	08FEB95

Persons born in countries other than India, China, Mexico and the Philippines should look in the “Worldwide” current on the left side of the Visa Bulletin 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.

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.

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