Waiting for your petition takes forever. But when forever comes, you must be ready to process your Immigrant Visa at the U.S. Consulate. To ensure that you’re ready, you must always communicate with USCIS and the U.S. Embassy when you change addresses because the worst thing that can happen is for mail to get lost, and God forbid, that letter from the Embassy informing you that your priority date is current and that you must now submit the Choice of Agent form. There’s no way to expedite the petition and the best you can do is to check the U.S. State Department’s monthly visa bulletin.

Every month, the Department of Homeland Security publishes a visa bulletin, which is a summary of available immigrant numbers during the particular month. Consular officers report documentarily qualified applicants to the Department of Homeland Security.

Applicants who have a priority date earlier than the cut-off date may be allotted a visa number. When a cut-off date retrogresses, supplemental requests for numbers will be honored only if the priority date falls within the new cut-off date.

The annual minimum family-sponsored preference limit is 226,000 as set by Section 201 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. At least 140,000 is the worldwide level for annual employment-based preference immigrants. Under Section 202 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the per-country limit for preference immigrants is 7% of the total annual family-sponsored and employment-based limits.

Under Section 203 of the Immigration and Nationality Act sets the number of immigrant visas allotted per family-sponsored preference categories.

First Family-Sponsored Preference is for Unmarried Sons and Daughters of Citizens: 23,400 plus any numbers not required for fourth preference category.

Second Family-Sponsored Preference is for Spouses and Children, and Unmarried Sons and Daughters of Permanent Residents in which 114,200 numbers are allotted, plus if there is any excess of the worldwide family preference level of 226,000 and any unused first preference category numbers:

A. Spouses and Children: 77% of the overall second preference limitation, of which 75% are exempt from the per-country limit;
B. Unmarried Sons and Daughters (21 years of age or older): 23% of the overall second preference limitation.

Third Family-Sponsored Preference is for Married Sons and Daughters of Citizens: 23,400, plus any numbers not required by first and second preference categories.

Fourth Family-Sponsored Preference is for Brothers and Sisters of Adult Citizens: 65,000, plus any numbers not required by first three preference categories.

Under Section 203 of the Immigration and Nationality Act also sets the number of immigrant visas allotted per employment-based preference categories.

First Employment-Based Preference is for Priority Workers: 28.6% of the worldwide employment-based preference level, plus any numbers not required for fourth and fifth preference categories.

Second Employment-Based Preference is for Members of the Professions Holding Advanced Degrees or Persons of Exceptional Ability: 28.6% of the worldwide employment-based preference level, plus any numbers not used for the first preference category.

Third Employment-Based Preference is for Skilled Workers, Professionals, and Other Workers: 28.6% of the worldwide level, plus any numbers not required by first and second
preference categories, not more than 10,000 to "Other Workers".

Fourth Employment-Based Preference is for Certain Special Immigrants: 7.1% of the worldwide level.

Fifth Employment-Based Preference is for Employment Creation or Investors: 7.1% of the worldwide level, not less than 3,000 of which reserved for investors in a targeted rural or high-unemployment area, and 3,000 set aside for investors in regional centers by Sec. 610 of P.L. 102-395.

Applicants who are beneficiaries of family-sponsored or employment-based petitions, and who are found to be qualified for a visa must be aware that under INA Section 203(e), the visa is issued in the order in which the petitions were filed. The spouses and children of the main beneficiary are also entitled to the same status in the same order under Section 203(d).

When the demand for a visa number exceeds the per country limit allocations for a foreign state, as in the case of Philippines, China, Mexico, and India, then the prorating provisions of Section 202(e) applies.

Below is a list of preference-category priority dates for the Philippines as of December 2008:

F1 Unmarried Sons and Daughters of U.S. Citizens: June 1, 1993
F2A Spouses and Children of Permanent Residents: April 1, 2004
F2B Unmarried Sons and Daughters (21 years of age or older) of Permanent Residents: July 15, 1997
F3 Married Sons and Daughters of U.S. Citizens: May 15, 1991
F4 Brothers and Sisters of Adult U.S. Citizens: April 15, 1986

EB1 Priority Workers: Current
EB2 Exceptional Ability and Advanced Degree Professionals: Current
EB3 Skilled Workers, Professionals, and Other Workers: May 15, 2005
EB4 Certain Special Immigrants: January 15, 2003
EB5 Investors: Current

Atty. Michael Templo is an attorney admitted to practice law in New York State and Federal Courts and is a partner at Templo & Templo with offices in New York, USA and Makati City, Philippines. Atty. Templo specializes in US Immigration matters. The discussion above is not intended as legal advice, and cannot be relied upon for any purpose without the services of a qualified professional. For your comments and questions, Atty. Templo can be reached at mdt@templolaw.com or log on to www.templolaw.com.