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VISA BULLETIN FOR MAY 2021

(Updated 5/11/2021)

What is the “Visa Bulletin”?  It shows how long people in a given category have been waiting for an immigrant visa based on country of birth and preference category.  Since immigrant visas (or green cards) to the U.S. are numerically limited  and there are more immigration petitions filed than visas available, a backlog (or wait time) is created.

What does the “Priority Date” represent?  For family petitions, this is the date the Form I-130 was received by immigration.  For employment petitions, this 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 (Form I-140 or Form I-526).

FAMILY-SPONSORED 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 Family-Based Immigration category, i.e., married children of U.S. citizens; and

“4th” refers to the Fourth Preference in 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.

A. Application Final Action Dates for Family-Sponsored Preference Cases

Family-Based All Chargeability
Areas Except
Those Listed
China-Mainland Born India Mexico Philippines
1st 10/22/14 10/22/14 10/22/14 04/01/98 02/01/12
2A* Current Current Current Current Current
2B 08/15/15 08/15/15 08/15/15 08/15/99 09/15/11
3rd 08/22/08 08/22/08 08/22/08 10/15/96 05/01/02
4th 11/08/06 11/08/06 04/15/05 08/08/98 05/01/02

 

B.     Dates for filing of Family-Sponsored Visa Applications – These dates indicate when immigrant applicants (present in the U.S. legally) can mail adjustment of status applications without having to wait for their priority dates to become current.

Family-Based All Chargeability
Areas Except
Those Listed
China-Mainland Born India Mexico Philippines
1st 10/01/15 10/01/15 10/01/15 03/01/00 11/01/13
2A* 04/01/21 04/01/21 04/01/21 04/01/21 04/01/21
2B 06/22/16 06/22/16 06/22/16 08/08/00 01/08/13
3rd 06/22/09 06/22/09 06/22/09 09/08/00 07/01/03
4th 10/01/07 10/01/07 12/01/05 05/08/99 07/01/03

EMPLOYMENT-BASED PREFERENCES

First:  Priority Workers:  28.6% of the worldwide employment-based preference level, plus any numbers not required for fourth and fifth preferences.

Second:  Members of the Professions Holding Advanced Degrees or Persons of Exceptional Ability:  28.6% of the worldwide employment-based preference level, plus any numbers not required by first preference.      

Third:  Skilled Workers, Professionals, and Other Workers:  28.6% of the worldwide level, plus any numbers not required by first and second preferences, not more than 10,000 of which to “*Other Workers”.

Fourth:  Certain Special Immigrants:  7.1% of the worldwide level.

Fifth:  Employment Creation:  7.1% of the worldwide level, not less than 3,000 of which reserved for investors in a targeted rural or high-unemployment area, and 3,000 set aside for investors in regional centers by Sec. 610 of Pub. L. 102-395.

Application Final Action Dates for Employment-Sponsored Preference Cases

Employment-Based All Chargeability
Areas Except
Those Listed
China-Mainland Born El
Sal-
vador
Gua-
temala
Honduras
India Mexico Phili-ppines Vietnam
1st Current Current Current Current Current Current Current
2nd Current 12/01/16 Current 08/01/10 Current Current Current
3rd Current 05/15/18 Current 02/01/11 Current Current Current
Other Workers Current 08/01/09 Current 02/01/11 Current Current Current
4th Current Current 09/01/18 Current 03/15/19 Current Current
Certain Religious Workers Current Current 09/01/18 Current 03/15/19 Current Current
5th Non-Regional
Center (C5 and T5)
Current 08/15/15 Current Current Current Current 02/15/18
5th
Regional
Center
(I5 and R5)
Current 08/15/15 Current Current Current Current 02/15/18

 

Dates for filing of Employment-Based Visa Applications

Employment-Based All Chargeability
Areas Except
Those Listed
China-Mainland Born El
Salvador
Guatemala
Honduras
India Mexico Philippines
1st Current Current Current Current Current Current
2nd Current 07/01/17 Current 05/15/11 Current Current
3rd Current 09/01/18 Current 01/01/14 Current Current
Other Workers Current 11/01/09 Current 01/01/14 Current Current
4th Current Current 11/01/18 Current Current Current
Certain Religious Workers Current Current 11/01/18 Current Current Current
5th Non-Regional
Center (C5 and T5)
Current 12/15/15 Current Current Current Current
5th
Regional
Center
(I5 and R5)
Current 12/15/15 Current Current Current Current

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