What is the purpose of the Visa Bulletin?
The Visa Bulletin is a document published every month by the Visa Office of the U.S. Department of State that provides “final action dates” and “dates for filing applications” for every family-based preference and per country of chargeability. See our Visa Bulletin details and predictions.
The goal of the Visa Bulletin is to enforce annual numerical limits (the predetermined number of green cards available each year to applicants who are eligible under a specific family-based preference, or who were born in a specific country).
Simply put, once an applicant is ‘documentarily qualified’ by the National Visa Center (NVC), or has been pre-processed by the National Benefits Center (NBC), the process of scheduling the interview will be initiated ONLY if the priority date of the applicant is ‘current’ when compared to the relevant Final Action Date of the Visa Bulletin.
Applicants are assigned to particular countries, which U.S. immigration agencies call ‘chargeability’ (being counted towards a country’s annual numerical limit). The applicant is generally “charged” to the country of his or her birth. For example, a Canadian citizen who was born in China would be charged to China.
In some situations, an exception may apply and immigrant applicants can “cross-charge” to a different country, a process known as ‘cross-chargeability’ (the following is based on the Foreign Application Manual of the U.S. Department of State here)
- Spouses who are immigrating together, but were born in different countries can pick the most beneficial country of chargeability.
- Similarly, a 2A spouse whose lawful permanent resident spouse was born in a different country may use the lawful permanent resident spouse’s country of chargeability, if more favorable.
- And, children can cross-charge to a country of chargeability of the parent he or she is immigrating with or following to join.
- Finally, if a person is born in country where neither of his or her parents had citizenship or permanent residence, the person’s country of chargeability can be the country of either of his parents’ birth.
These alternate chargeability rules are designed to ensure that:
- Children are not separated from parents;
- Spouses are not separated from each other;
- Aliens born in (but not now citizens of) the United States are not precluded from receiving preference visas;
- Aliens born during the temporary visit of their parents to a country in which they have no residence are not adversely affected by “an accident of birth.”
While a child may be charged to his or her parent’s country of birth, the reciprocal is not true… a parent cannot be charged to his or her child’s country of birth.
Does the Visa Bulletin apply to me?
The Visa Bulletin applies to you if you are a family applicant under a ‘family preference’ classification (F1, F2A, F2B, F3, F4):
- F1: adult children of U.S. Citizens who are single (21+ years old and unmarried)
- F2A: spouses and young children (20- years old) of Green Card holders
- F2B: adult children of Green Card holders (21+ years old and unmarried)
- F3: adult children of U.S. Citizens who are married (21+ years old and married
- F4: siblings (brothers and sisters) of U.S. Citizens
It does not apply to you if you are an immediate relative of a U.S. Citizen, that is to say the spouse, young child (20-years old and unmarried), or parent of a U.S. Citizen. Why? Because there are no limit to the number of family Green Card that can be issued to immediate relatives.
Note that if your category changes, you need to look at the Visa Bulletin dates associated with the new category:
What does the Visa Bulletin contain?
The Visa Bulletin contains final action dates, the date until which there are green card numbers available (if the application final action date is December 15, 2013, then a green card can be issued to all approved applications with a priority date of December 14, 2013 or earlier). Final action dates were formerly called the “cut-off date”. The applicant's priority date needs to be 'current' when compared to the final action date for the interview to be scheduled.
The Visa Bulletin also contains 'filing dates'. When the 'Filing Date' of the Visa Bulletin associated with the applicant's case is too far away, applicants going through consular processing see the following message in the CEAC: "Due to the numerical limitations on immigrant visa issuance prescribed by law, this petition is not eligible for further processing at this time. The National Visa Center (NVC) will retain the petition until an immigrant visa becomes available.". In other words, it is too early for the applicant to start filing their Green Card.
U.S. immigration agencies use the term current in the visa bulletin. Strictly speaking, it means that applications may be filed regardless of the applicant’s priority date. In a table it is designated by a “C” at the intersection of a family-based preference and a country of chargeability.
By extension, it is sometimes said that the priority date of an applicant is current when it is earlier than the filing date or the final action date. For instance, if…
- The priority date of an applicant is the 1st of December 2010; and
- The visa bulletin filing date in the applicant’s preference and country is the 1st of January 2011; then,
- The applicant’s priority date is earlier than the visa bulletin date; so:
- The applicant’s priority date is said to be current compared to filing dates.
If the term “current” is used without a specific reference to an official date, then it is probably used in reference to the final action date.