Visa Bulletin

Understanding visa quotas & priority dates

Cut Off Dates, Visa Retrogression, & the Visa Bulletin

Congress sets limits on the number of immigrant visas that can be issued each year. In order to adjust status to that of legal permanent resident, an immigrant visa must be available to the applicant both at the time of filing and at the time of adjudication. Ultimately, whether or not a visa is available depends on both the quota and how many people are waiting for immigrant visas in the same category. Often, annual quotas are quickly reached in certain categories, a situation causing visa backlogs.
Visa Bulletin & Cut-Off Dates: The U.S. Dept. of State (DOS) publishes a monthly Visa Bulletin which lists the cut-off dates that govern visa availability. Therefore, the monthly Visa Bulletin determines which applicants are eligible to file for permanent residence, as well as which applicants are eligible for a grant of permanent resident status.
Current Priority Date: Applicants who have a priority date earlier than the cut-off date published in the most current Visa Bulletin are eligible to apply for permanent residence, a situation that is referred to as having a “current” priority date.
If the priority date is later than the cut-off date: the alien must wait until the priority date is earlier than the cut-off date.
Visa Retrogression: Sometimes, a priority date that is current one month will not be current the next month, or the cut-off date will move backward to an earlier date. This is called visa retrogression, which occurs when more people apply for a visa in a particular category than there are visas available for that month. Visa retrogression generally occurs when the annual limit for a category or country has been exhausted or is expected to run out soon.
When the new fiscal year begins on Oct. 1, a new supply of visa numbers becomes available. Usually, but not always, the new supply returns the cut-off dates to where they were before retrogression.
If an application is pending and visa numbers retrogress, processing doesn't continue until the priority date becomes current again. Simply put, the earlier the priority date, the sooner is the eligibility to apply for permanent resident status.

Employment-Based Petitions & Priority Dates

Cut Off Dates, Visa Retrogression, & the Visa Bulletin

"Current Categories": Technically, all employment-based categories are subject to priority dates. Thankfully, practically speaking, certain categories are usually "current", which means there is no concern and qualified applicants can apply to adjust status or consular process at any time. Qualified EB-1, EB-4, EB-5, and religious worker categories are examples of "current" categories.
The relevant priority date is the first date on which a foreign national initially expresses his or her intention to immigrate to the U.S., which is either: 1) the date an application for PERM labor certification was accepted for processing; or, 2) the date that an immigrant preference petition was accepted for processing.
If labor certification is a prerequisite for an immigrant petition, the priority date is the date on which the labor certification application is accepted for processing with DOL. An approved labor certification is required for most EB-2 and EB-3 visas, which means the petitioner cannot file an I-140 petition until DOL approves the associated PERM application. (The beneficiary will retain this priority date when filing the I-140 petition once DOL certifies the associated PERM application. However, to preserve the priority date, the petitioner must file the I-140 immigant worker petition with USCIS within 180 days of the DOL approval date on the labor certification or else the labor certification is no longer valid. )
The priority date in National Interest Waiver applications and EB1 petitions (because neither require a labor certification) is the date when filed.

Family-Based Petitions & Priority Dates

Cut Off Dates, Visa Retrogression, & the Visa Bulletin

Family-Based Petitions & Priority Dates

Priority dates greatly affect those who belong to one of the four categories of preferences in family-based immigrant petitions.
For family-based applicants, the priority date is the date the family-based (I-130) petition filed. You can find your priority date on Form I-797, Notice of Action, for the petition filed on your behalf.
The waiting time before receiving an immigrant visa or adjusting status depends on the: 1) demand for and supply of immigrant visas. 2) per-country visa limitations; and 3) number of visas allocated for your preference category
Immediate Relatives: Applicants who are immediate family members of U.S. citizens (spouses, parents, and unmarried children under the age of 21 of U.S. citizens) are not subject to the annual quota limit and need not concern themselves with the priority date.

SEPTEMBER 2021 employment-based VISA BULLETIN

Notes for Understanding Employment-Based Preferences:

"1st" refers to the First Preference in Employment-Based Immigration category (EB-1), i.e., persons of "extraordinary ability" in the sciences, arts, education, business, and athletics, outstanding professors and researchers and certain executives and managers.
"2nd" refers to the Second Preference in Employment-Based Immigration category (EB-2), i.e., professionals holding advanced degrees, or persons of exceptional ability in the arts, sciences, or business (NIW applicants).
"3rd" refers to the Third Preference in Employment-Based Immigration category (EB-3), i.e., skilled workers and professionals holding baccalaureate degrees.
"Other Workers" refers to the unskilled worker under the Third Preference in Employment-Based Immigration category.
"4th" refers to the Fourth Preference in Employment-Based Immigration category (EB-4), i.e., religious workers, certain overseas employees of the U.S. Government, former employees of the Panama Canal Company, retired employees of international organizations, certain dependents of international organization employees and certain members of the U.S. Armed Forces.
"5th" refers to the Fifth Preference in Employment-Based Immigration category (EB-5), i.e., employment creation investors.

SEPTEMBER 2021 Family-based VISA BULLETIN

Notes for Understanding Family-Based Preferences:

"1st" refers to the First Preference in Family-Based Immigration category, i.e., unmarried children of U.S. citizens over age of 21;
"2A" refers to the first subcategory of the Second Preference in Family-Based Immigration category, i.e., spouses or unmarried children under age 21 of permanent residents;
"2B" refers to the second subcategory of the Second Preference in Family-Based Immigration category, i.e., unmarried children of 21 years of age or older of permanent residents;
"3rd" refers to the Third Preference in the Family-Based Immigration category, i.e., married children of U.S. citizens; and
"4th" refers to the Fourth Preference in the Family-Based Immigration category, i.e., brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens.
Immediate family members of U.S. citizens, i.e., spouses, parents and unmarried children under age of 21, are not subject to the numerical restriction of visa quotas.