Priority Date is the concept of immigration of the United States - this is the date when the first applicant first revealed his intentions of immigration to the US government. For family-sponsored applicants, the priority date is the date filed by the immigration petition, filed on his behalf, accepted by US Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS). For work-based immigration recipients, the priority date is the date of the immigration application filed in the USCIS, under a category in which labor certification is not required, or when the US Department of Labor receives a labor certification application, under a category in which a certification worker is required. In all cases, the priority date is not set until USCIS approves an immigration petition. The date specifies where someone is in the queue for a family residence permit or permanent or permanent residence permit (also known as a "green card" application).
The US Department of State publishes a monthly Visa Bulletin [1] which lists cut-off dates for different categories of immigration and birth nations. Only applicants who intend to priority date before the cut-off date are permitted to apply for the Status Adjustment (AOS) or attend an immigrant visa interview at the consulate. The cut-off date generally moves forward from time to time as the old case is approved or abandoned. However, in certain cases, as if a large number of old cases work their way through the system at about the same time, the cut-off date can actually be backwards (or rewind). If an individual already has a pending AOS application in the event of a setback that places the cut-off earlier than the applicant's priority date, USCIS opts out the application and will not terminate it until the priority date returns. For example, after months of stagnation, in June 2007 cut-off date priorities for the second and third based (EB2 and EB3) based labor applicants (mostly job-based green-card applicants) advanced dramatically for all nations. At the low end, an eight-month cut-off advanced for immigrants from mainland China for the EB2 category. EB3 for applicants born in India has advanced 25 months, at most any category, thus impacting a large number of workers with jobs requiring a bachelor's degree.
For individuals who start a job-based green card process now, responsible nations and job requirements are paramount in determining how long the entire process will last. Individuals from countries that can be filled in other than China or India with jobs that require a master's degree can complete the entire process, from certification of labor to receiving a green card, within 1-2 years from start to finish, if there is no guarantee visa availability, that is, all priority dates are current. Workers whose immigrant visas are charged to China or India with jobs that require only a bachelor's degree may expect to wait several years after their employer's employment certification files and immigrant visa applications become eligible to apply for the final application for the green card itself.
Video Priority date
References
Maps Priority date
External links
- Visa Bulletin, Department of State of the United States
- USCIS definition of first preference, EB1, category
- USCIS definition of second preference, EB2, category
- The USCIS definition of the third preference, EB3, category
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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