What is a visa final action date?
New Visa Bulletin Charts Application Final Action Dates (dates when visas may finally be issued); and. Dates for Filing Applications (earliest dates when applicants may be able to apply).
What happens when your final action date is current?
When your final action date becomes current, you would see “Current” or “C” in the Visa Bulletin. What it means is that you can go ahead and apply for the next steps to get your green card and there is no wait time.
Is priority date same as final action date?
The “Final Action Dates” indicate the dates an immigrant visa number will be available for a foreign national with a current priority date that month. This is an important date because once the immigrant visa number is available, the foreign national's physical green card can be issued.
What is the difference between final action date?
Now, the “Date for Filing” determines whether or not you can submit the final immigrant visa application, and the “Final Action Date” indicates whether or not it is expected that an immigrant visa number will be available.
Will USCIS speed up 2022?
USCIS Extends Premium-Processing to Certain Pending Immigrant Petitions. On May 24, 2022, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced an expansion of premium processing service to two additional categories of Form I-140 immigrant petitions.
How long does it take for NVC to schedule interview 2022?
How long does it take to get an appointment? Although NVC strives to schedule appointments within three months of NVC's acceptance of all requested documentation, this timeframe is subject to the operating status and capacity of the consular section.
How do I know if my visa is approved?
Check the Status of a Visa Application For nonimmigrant visas, call 1-603-334-0888. Or use the Consular Electronic Application Center (CEAC).
How long does it take to get green card after final action date?
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO GET A GREEN CARD? After filing Form I-485, Application to Adjust Status, and related forms, your I-485 processing time can take anywhere from 8 to 14 months. The basis of your adjustment of status (e.g. family, employment, asylum, etc.) will be a significant factor. This is an approximation.
How long after priority date becomes current?
You can find your priority date on the I-797 form mailed by USCIS approving your I-130 petition. Current: In the context of the visa bulletin, “current” means no backlog and no wait time for a green card. A particular priority date becomes “current” once it reaches the front of the line and a green card is available.
How long does it take for NVC to send case to embassy?
After you have submitted all of your required documentation to the National Visa Center, paid the visa fees, and uploaded all of the necessary documents to your Consular Electronic Application Center (CEAC) portal, it can take anywhere from 3 to 6 months for the National Visa Center to review your documentation and ...
What next after NVC accepted documents?
After USCIS approves your petition, they will transfer your case to the Department of State's National Visa Center (NVC) for pre-processing. The first step in this processing is the creation of your case in our system. Once this is complete, we will send you a Welcome Letter by e-mail or physical mail.
Why is the Visa Bulletin not moving?
By not moving the Final Action Dates, the State Department removes the bottleneck it may create if the Department advances the dates forward, and more visas are available for use. For the same reason stated above, there is little movement in the Date of Filing for Family-Sponsored in the May 2022 visa bulletin.
How long does it take to get green card after final action date?
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO GET A GREEN CARD? After filing Form I-485, Application to Adjust Status, and related forms, your I-485 processing time can take anywhere from 8 to 14 months. The basis of your adjustment of status (e.g. family, employment, asylum, etc.) will be a significant factor. This is an approximation.
What is the next step after priority date is current?
Only when your priority date becomes "current" can you take the next step: either apply for adjustment of status if you are already in the United States in legal status or otherwise eligible to use the adjustment of status procedure, or apply for an immigrant visa at an U.S. Embassy or Consulate in your home country.
What does current mean in Visa Bulletin?
Important terms in the Visa Bulletin Current: In the context of the visa bulletin, “current” means no backlog and no wait time for a green card. A particular priority date becomes “current” once it reaches the front of the line and a green card is available.
How much time after priority date is current?
one yearStill, after your priority date becomes current in the “Application Final Action Dates” chart, you will have one year to pursue your visa or green card. If you miss this as well, the government will perceive you have quit, and the next person in the line will get your visa number to the next.
What is the visa bulletin?
The visa bulletin is published by the U.S. Department of State each month and serves as a waiting list for foreign nationals whose immigrant visas are subject to a yearly quota. Because the number of green card applicants generally exceeds the available immigrant visas, foreign nationals are given “priority dates” when an initial immigrant petition ...
What Is the Difference Between “Final Action Dates” & “Dates for Filing”?
The “Final Action Dates” indicate the dates an immigrant visa number will be available for a foreign national with a current priority date that month. This is an important date because once the immigrant visa number is available, the foreign national’s physical green card can be issued. A green card cannot be issued unless the applicant’s priority date is earlier that the Final Action Date listed on the visa bulletin.
When do you file for a green card?
The Dates for Filing are the earliest dates green card applicants may apply for a green card. These are the dates the National Visa Center (NVC) uses to notify green card applicants that they can start getting documentarily qualified. These dates are typically eight to 12 months prior to the expected Final Action Dates and allow applicants ...
When can a green card be issued?
A green card cannot be issued unless the applicant’s priority date is earlier that the Final Action Date listed on the visa bulletin.
What is the priority date for green card?
The priority date represents the foreign national’s place in line for a green card. Once the priority date becomes “current” the foreign national may apply for their physical green card.
Why is the backlog of work authorization important?
This is beneficial because it can allow foreign nationals who are stuck in the backlog to apply for and obtain work authorization much sooner than if they had to wait for the priority date to be current under the relevant Final Action Date.
What is the visa bulletin?
The U.S. Department of State publishes a monthly visa bulletin. The visa bulletin lets you know when it’s time to claim your green card.
When do visas go backwards?
Generally, the cut-off dates on the visa bulletin move forward in time. But sometimes they go backwards. Visa retrogression occurs when more people apply for a visa in a particular category or country than there are visas available for that month. Retrogression typically occurs toward the end of the fiscal year as visa issuance approaches the annual category, or per-country limitations. Sometimes a priority date that meets the cut-off date one month will not meet the cut-off date the next month. When the new fiscal year begins on October 1, a new supply of visas is made available and usually, but not always, returns the dates to where they were before retrogression.
How to know if your visa is current?
Once you know your priority date and your preference category, proceed to the U.S. State Department's monthly visa bulletin. Select the "Current Visa Bulletin." Forward to "Family-Sponsored Preferences" to see a table similar to the sample below. Find your family preference category and compare your priority date to the date listed. If your priority date comes before the date listed, your immigrant visa is current.
What is the first chart for visa numbers?
The first chart is for “final action dates.” A visa number is actually available if a priority date comes before the date listed in this example chart.
Where is the priority date on an I-130?
The priority date is in the top section of the document . In the example below, a red circle identifies the priority date.
What does an approved I-130 mean?
The approved I-130 petition means that you’ve established your place in line for a visa, but it is not yet available. In fact, it is the priority date that specifies your specific place in line. You have reached the front of the line when your priority date becomes "current.".
What is “Dates for Filing” in Visa Bulletin ?
The “dates for filing application” or simply “dates for filing” in Visa bulletin are the earliest dates when Green Card Applicants may be able to apply for green card or immigrant visa. The dates for filing are typically used by National Visa Center (NVC) to notify immigrant visa applicants (green card applicants), who are outside of US to prepare themselves and submit all the relevant documents required for the Green Card Visa Interview at US Consulates. The dates of filing may also be used by USCIS asking Green Card applicants in US to submit applications for Adjustment of Status.
What is the final action date?
The “final action dates” or “application final action dates” are the dates when the actual green card numbers are available for that category & country of birth, so that the final Green Cards or immigrant visas can be issued. You can think these dates as if your position in queue has reached the end and you are ready to get the green card. The priority dates that were used before introduction of two separate dates are nothing but the “final action dates”. Let’s review, what they mean for NVC, Consulates and USCIS.
What happens when Final Action Date is current ?
When your final action date becomes current, you would see “Current” or “C” in the Visa Bulletin. What it means is that you can go ahead and apply for the next steps to get your green card and there is no wait time. Below are the things that you can do depending on your situation.
Why do “Dates for Filing” and “Final Action Dates” fluctuate? Retrogress?
As you read from above, there are many factors considered for prediction of the green card applications required to meet the numerical limit. There are few scenarios on why ‘dates for filing & final action dates’ move forward or backward. Let’s look at them.
How are Green Card or Immigrant Visas count Reported, Predicted?
The Visa Office (VO) that is part of US Department of State (DOS) handles the green card numbers reporting and prediction. Every month the Visa Office gets a report of total number of immigrant visa (Green Card) applicants from all US consulates & Embassies across the globe. Also, they get the number of pending applications of adjustment of status from USCIS. The process of prediction is pretty complicated. But for your easy understanding, we have tried to simplify it as below.
How does USCIS forecast green card numbers?
USCIS in preparation for next fiscal year (starts from October 1 st) will forecast how many applications they would need to meet the Green Card numerical limits by end of the fiscal year (September of next year). They usually look at their pending applicants count with them and forecast, if they have any shortage of applications. In cases, where they believe they do not have enough applications to fill the total numerical limit by end of fiscal year ( next year September), they will ask green card applicants to use “Dates for Filing” to submit the adjustment of status applications. See below how it looks in a diagram
What is the US Department of State's green card bulletin?
US Department of State publishes the Visa Bulletin every month that summarizes the green card numbers availability by category and movement of priority dates. It has “Dates for Filing” charts and “Final Action Dates” charts. Depending on the month of the year and movement of priority dates, USCIS suggests which charts to use for filing adjustment of status. In this article, we will look at the differences and how the different dates thing works. Why they move back and forth and how it impacts the priority dates.
Why is there a visa cutoff date?
As indicated above, the reason for the visa bulletin cutoff date system is that, by law, there are annual limits on the number of foreign nationals who can become U.S. permanent residents under most immigrant visa categories. The quota is controlled by the use of visa numbers, and allocated between the EB and FB green card categories.
What is the priority date for a green card?
The priority date in an employment-based (EB) green card case requiring a PERM labor certification is the officially acknowledged date that the case is filed with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). If the EB case is filed in a category that does not require a labor certification, then the priority date assigned is the date that the immigrant petition (most commonly form I-140) is properly filed with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
What does "current" mean in visa?
However, the term also is commonly used to simply indicate that a person has a case with a priority date that is earlier than the cutoff date.
What is priority date for FB?
In a family-based (FB) case, the priority date is assigned based on the date that the petition for alien relative (form I-130) is properly filed with the USCIS. Note, however, that in an immediate relative case – that is, a FB case filed for the spouse, parent, or minor child of a U.S. citizen – the priority date generally is not important. This category is not subject to visa backlogs and, therefore, such a case can move forward without waiting for a visa number to become available.
What is the second chart for I-485?
The second chart is designated as dates for filing (DF). For consular processing cases, these dates indicate “… when immigrant visa applicants should be notified to assemble and submit required documentation to the National Visa Center.” Each month, the USCIS indicates on its website whether the DF dates can also be used as a basis for filing an I-485 application. Under this system, specified applicants are permitted to file their respective I-485s well in advance of green cards actually being available to them.
What does the FA chart mean for I-485?
The FA chart dates listed for both the EB and FB categories indicate which I-485 or immigrant visa cases may be approved in a given month. If the visa bulletin chart states “C” for a given category and country, that indicates that the numbers are current in the particular category for the country of chargeability. This means that there are enough visa numbers for anyone with an approved petition in this category to either receive an immigrant visa or obtain approval of her/his pending I-485 application.
When can I file an I-485?
If, for example, a given priority date is not current for September, but shows as being available in the October Visa Bulletin, then the foreign national typically will be able to file the I-485 any date between October 1st and October 31st.
