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The employment-based (EB) categories in the visa bulletin are as follows:
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).
These dates are consistent with prior visa bulletin priority dates.
Ranking | World | China | El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras |
India | Mexico | Philippines |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st | Current | Current | Current | Current | Current | Current |
2nd | Current | 10-15-12 | Current | 4-15-08 | Current | Current |
3rd | 8-01-16 | 9-08-13 | 8-01-16 | 3-15-05 | 8-01-16 | 7-22-11 |
Unskilled | 8-01-16 | 12-01-05 | 8-01-16 | 3-15-05 | 8-01-16 | 7-22-11 |
4th | Current | Current | 7-15-15 | Current | 7-15-15 | Current |
5th | Current | 4-08-14 | Current | Current | Current | Current |
These dates indicate when immigrant applicants can send adjustment of status applications without having to wait for their priority dates to become current.
Ranking | World | China | India | Mexico | Philippines |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st | Current | Current | Current | Current | Current |
2nd | Current | 3-01-13 | 4-22-09 | Current | Current |
3rd | Current | 5-01-14 | 7-01-05 | Current | 9-01-13 |
Unskilled | Current | 8-01-09 | 7-01-05 | Current | 9-01-13 |
4th | Current | Current | Current | Current | Current |
5th | Current | 6-15-14 | Current | Current | Current |
The family-based categories in the visa bulletin are as follows:
A family visa applicant’s priority date is the day that the government received the I-130 Petition.
These dates are consistent with prior visa bulletin priority dates.
Ranking | World | China | India | Mexico | Philippines |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st | 12-01-09 | 12-01-09 | 12-01-09 | 4-15-95 | 9-15-05 |
2A | 2-22-15 | 2-22-15 | 2-22-15 | 2-15-15 | 2-22-15 |
2B | 5-08-10 | 5-08-10 | 5-08-10 | 10-15-95 | 3-01-06 |
3rd | 2-15-05 | 2-15-05 | 2-15-05 | 12-08-94 | 8-15-94 |
4th | 12-22-03 | 10-01-03 | 4-01-03 | 5-15-97 | 5-22-93 |
These dates indicate when immigrant applicants can send adjustment of status applications without having to wait for their priority dates to become current.
Ranking | World | China | India | Mexico | Philippines |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st | 1-01-11 | 1-01-11 | 1-01-11 | 6-01-95 | 5-01-06 |
2A | 11-22-15 | 11-22-15 | 11-22-15 | 11-22-15 | 11-22-15 |
2B | 2-8-11 | 2-8-11 | 2-8-11 | 6-01-96 | 2-01-07 |
3rd | 8-22-05 | 8-22-05 | 8-22-05 | 5-01-95 | 1-01-95 |
4th | 7-01-04 | 7-01-04 | 5-01-04 | 12-01-97 | 4-01-94 |
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.