Immigration Information FAQ: Immigrant Visa Waiting Lists

FAQ: Immigrant Visa Waiting Lists

Q:	What is the immigrant visa waiting list?

While "immediate relatives" (parents, spouses, and children of U.S. citizens) are not subject to numerical quota limitations on their immigration, all other categories of immigrants are. Since there are more qualified immigrants in most categories than there are available visas, waiting lists have been established to assure that those who applied first will receive visas first. This system is known as the immigrant visa waiting list.

The waiting list is broken into three major sections: family based immigrants, employment based immigrants, and diversity immigrants. For family and employment based immigrants the list is further broken down by preference category and country. The diversity category is managed on a slightly different basis.

Q:	How does the waiting list relate to how visas are issued?

Since there are more qualified immigrants than visas available, the State Department maintains lists of qualified immigrants on the basis of the chronological date of registration ("priority date"). The people with the earliest priority dates are issued visas first, followed by those who applied later.

Q:	How does one establish a place in line on the waiting list?

Places are kept on the waiting list by "priority date." An applicant's priority date is established by filing a labor certification or immigrant preference petition. The priority date does not become perfected until the immigrant preference petition (I-130 or I-140) has been approved. At that point, the beneficiary of the petition is entitled to both a priority date (the fling date) and an immigrant preference classification.

Q:	How can I tell when my place in line has been reached?

The U.S. Department of State publishes a Monthly Visa Bulletin. This Visa Bulletin shows the "cutoff dates" for each preference category and country. If a person's priority date is earlier than the cutoff date, then that person is eligible to apply for an immigrant visa immediately. If not, they must wait.

Q:	What does the term "cutoff date" mean?

A cutoff date refers to the most current date on the waiting list that can be accommodated within the quota during the month shown. What this means is that the people at the Department of State try to calculate how many people on the waiting list are ready to apply for immigrant visas during the next month. They then take the number of visas available and work forward from the oldest priority date. When they run out of numbers, they establish a cutoff date for that preference classification for that month.

Q:	Why are some countries subject to longer waiting times?

In order to prevent individual countries from using up all of the available visas, the law prevents the citizens from any one country from using more than a set percentage of the total quota. This is not really a per-country quota as much as it is a uniform maximum limit, above which the citizens of any country many not receive visas during any single year.

There are several countries that are either at the maximum limit, or very close to the maximum limit. These countries include China, India, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, the Philippines, and Korea.

When the visas issued to citizens of a particular country reach the maximum limit for any single country, then a special quota is created for that country. The State Department will take the maximum number of visas that can be issued and reserve them according to the same formula that is used for the worldwide allocation of visas.

Q:	How do I know which country will be used for my priority date?

A:	The law provides that your country of birth (not your current citizenship) is your "country of chargeability" for immigrant visa purposes.

Q:	Is it possible to be charged against another country's quota?

Yes it is. There are two procedures that result in an applicant being charged to a different country's quota: alternate chargeability and cross-chargeability.

"Alternate chargeability" refers to situations where a person was born in a country in which neither parent was a citizen and it can be shown that the parents were only residing there temporarily. In such a case, the applicant may ask to be charged to the country of citizenship of either parent.

"Cross-chargeability" is much more common. When there is a married couple, where each spouse was born in a different country, both spouses may use the country of chargeability of the spouse with the shortest waiting list.

Q:	How can I tell how long it will take to reach my priority date?

The short answer is that you can't. Cutoff dates move forward and backward regularly, sometimes with great speed. The waiting list is maintained on the basis of chronological filings. It is a simple historical fact that some months of the year have more filings than others. For this reason, it sometimes takes longer for a cutoff date to move though a particular month. Conversely, when there were relatively few filings in a particular month, the cutoff date will move through that month rather quickly.

Since many immigrant preference petitions are filed on the basis of changes in the law (or the threat of changes in the law), conditions in particular regions of the world, and other, similar, circumstances, it is not possible to predict cutoff date movement with great accuracy.