When immigrant visas are not sufficient to be distributed to alien immigrants, the United States State Department administers a Visa Bulletin to allocate the available immigrant visa numbers based on the usage each month. Then the priority date becomes extremely important to determine when the alien applicant can receive an immigrant visa (green card). Attorney Jeff Xie wants all xielaw clients to have a basic understanding of the Visa Bulletin and the Priority Date so that his clients are well informed about the long waiting process that almost all alien applicants have to go through.

What is the Visa Bulletin?

The Visa Bulletin is a monthly information sheet issued by United States Department of State, through its Bureau of Consular Affairs. It lists the availability of "immigrant numbers" during the month of publication, and is intended as a guide for consular officials, attorneys and others who would like to know if visas are immediately available for individuals in particular categories. The Visa Bulletin is generally issued in the second or third week of each month indicating the visa number availability in next month. Family based immigrant visas, employment based immigrant visas and Diversity based immigrant visas are the three major categories listed in the Visa Bulletin. The monthly Visa Bulletin is accessible through our website www.xielaw.com: point your mouse cursor to FREE INFO on right hand top menu, click on Visa Bulletin, and then read the "Current Bulletin."

What is a Priority Date?

A priority date is assigned when the alien files an immigrant application, either by self-applying or having their employer file it for them. For example, the date the I-130 petition is filed will be generally the priority date; the date I-140 petition is filed with USCIS will generally the priority date. If the PERM labor certification application is filed and approved before the I-140 petition is filed, the date PERM labor certification application was filed will become priority date. You can find your priority date on the top portion of your I-140 or I-130 approval notice. If your I-140 or I-130 has not been approved, you will need to wait for the approval notice to determine your official priority date.  In summary, The priority date is the date on which the USCIS received the application, either an I-130 application for an alien relative or an I-140 application for an immigrant worker (or the filing of a labor certification if that is a component of the green card petition process).

How can I Read the Visa Bulletin?

First of all, you need to identify what category your petition falls under: family based or employment based.  Then you need to identify which sub-category your case belongs to.  For example, if your US citizen parent has filed an immigrant petition for you and you are older than 21 and unmarried, your application is a family "1st" on the Bulletin.  If you filed the NIW I-140 petition, your application will be under "Employment Based 2nd".  AND if you were born in the mainland China, you need to look for the date "15FEB05" (for March 2009) under "China-Mainland.” This will mean you need to mark "2nd"   on the bulletin. However, if you were born in any country other than the mainland China, India, Mexico or Philippines, you need to find the letter or date under "All Charge-ability Areas Except Those Listed" and "2nd".  For March 2009 Visa Bulletin, the letter is "C".

If your category is "C", that will is excellent news to you.  "C" means "Current", which means the visas are immediately available for issuance by the consulate. If a category is oversubscribed, tables on the Visa Bulletin indicate this fact with a date, such as 15FEB05 under the appropriate chargeability area. When a category is oversubscribed, only individuals with a "Priority Date" earlier than the one listed on the Visa Bulletin may be issued visas.  "C" is the most important letter you cannot ignore on the visa bulletin table if you are waiting for your priority date.

How does the Priority Date get changed?

The Priority Dates on the Visa Bulletin table do not necessarily advance one month at a time, and depend upon the number of applications filed around the time of an individual's application. It can go back (retrogression) or forward. A surge in applications for a particular chargeability area at the time of filing could lead to priority dates advancing only one week per month. Similarly, a sharp drop in applications for a particular chargeability area when the application was filed might result in priority dates that advance six months at a time.  For some case categories, such as US citizens’ brothers and sisters, the priority dates moves only days per months.  Some of you may ask, how can I know when will my priority date become current?  Can you predict it for me?  Unfortunately, the answer is no... No one can predict the change accurately.  What you can do is to wait for your priority date patiently...