USA Immigration News

US Immigration Has Posted Revised Visa Bulletin

Each month, consular officers and the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services of the US Department of Homeland Security report to the US Department of State the number of visas that have been allocated for numerically limited visa categories. Utilizing this information, the Department of State creates a document called the Visa Bulletin to assist foreigners in determining when they are eligible to submit an application to apply for US lawful permanent residence, or a US "green Card."

The Visa Bulletin for January 2009 can be found at the following site: http://travel.state.gov/visa/bulletin/bulletin_4406.html. To use this document, foreigners who are eligible for US permanent residence through a family member or through employment must use the charts in the Visa Bulletin to determine their priority date. One's priority date is the date a family member filed the Petition for Alien Relative or the date the foreigner or the foreigner's employer filed an Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker or Permanent Labor Certification.

Once the applicable date in the chart includes the priority date, the foreigner may apply for US permanent residence. If in the US, the foreigner may submit an Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status; if outside the US, the foreigner will be contacted by the nearest US embassy or consulate to apply for the immigrant visa to enter the US.

Fortunately, all of the immigrant visas are available, and several immigrant visas are current, meaning visas are currently available for qualified applicants. Unfortunately, many immigrant visa categories are oversubscribed, so they may not be available for several years. Regardless, if eligible, it is best to apply for a visa as soon as possible to obtain a priority date.

If you are interested in living & working in USA, contact Migration Expert for information and advice on different visas available to people migrating to USA.