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UNDERSTANDING THE INCOMPREHENSIBLE: INTERPRETING THE VISA BULLETIN
The United States Department of State, through the Bureau of Consular Affairs, publishes the monthly "Visa Bulletin." The Visa Bulletin lists the availability of "immigrant numbers" during the month of publication, and is intended as a guide for consular officials, attorneys and others who would like to know if visas are immediately available for individuals in particular categories. The Visa Bulletin is available on our Web Site or by FAX from the Department of State at 202-647-3000, under code 1038. 
Section 201 of the Immigration and Nationality Act establishes limits on family and employment based immigration. The worldwide limit for family based immigration is 226,000 individuals and the worldwide limit for employment based immigration is 140,000. Section 202 of the Immigration and Nationality Act states that the total number of visas which may be issued ("charged") to specific countries may not exceed seven percent of the total number of family or employment based immigration on a worldwide basis. Section 203 of the Immigration and Nationality Act further allocates these numbers within family and employment based "preference" categories. 
The Visa Bulletin indicates the availability of visas for family and employment based preference categories, and separately lists countries which may have exceeded their allocation of visas. Countries which have exceeded their allocation of visas are "oversubscribed" and individuals from those countries must wait before a visa can be issued. At present, backlogs may exist for individuals charged to China (mainland), India, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and the Philippines. 
If a Category is "Current" then visas are immediately available for issuance by the consulate, and tables on the Visa Bulletin indicate this fact with a "C" under the appropriate chargeability area. If a category is oversubscribed, tables on the Visa Bulletin indicate this fact with a date, such as 15MAR94 under the appropriate chargeability area. When a category is oversubscribed, only individuals with a "priority date" earlier than the one listed on the Visa Bulletin may be issued visas. 
A priority date is assigned when an individual, who is qualified for the category of immigration they request, files a complete application. Individuals whose priority date is after the one listed in the tables must wait until their priority date is included in a table published in the monthly Visa Bulletin. Contrary to what one might believe, priority dates do not necessarily advance one month at a time, and depend upon the number of applications filed around the time of an individuals application. A surge in applications for a particular chargeability area at the time of filing could lead to priority dates advancing only one week per month. Similarly, a sharp drop in applications for a particular chargeability area when the application was filed might result in priority dates that advance two months at a time. 
Family based immigration is divided into four preference categories and "immediate relatives" of United States citizens. Immediate relatives of United States citizens are parents, children under 21 and spouses. This category has no pre-set numerical restrictions and is always current. The first family preference is for unmarried (whether single, widowed, or divorced) children over 21 of United States citizens and is presently current for all countries except for the Philippines. Family 2A preference is for spouses and children under 21 of permanent residents, and presently has about a three year backlog. Family 2B preference is for unmarried children over 21 of permanent residents, and presently has about a five year backlog. The third family preference is for married children (any age) of United States citizens and currently faces about a three year backlog for most countries. The fourth and final family preference is for brothers and sisters of United States citizens (over 21), and currently has about a ten year backlog. 
Employment based immigration is divided into five preference categories. The first preference category is for "priority workers" such as outstanding professors and researchers, aliens of extraordinary ability and multinational executives and managers. This category is presently current for all countries. The second preference category is for members of the professions holding advanced (post graduate) degrees, aliens of exceptional ability, and others whose immigration is in the "national interest." This category is presently current for all countries. The third preference relates to skilled workers, professionals and other workers. Within this category, skilled workers and professionals are presently current for most countries, except China and the Philippines. However, the category of "other workers" faces about a five year backlog for all countries. The fourth preference is for "special immigrants" and includes certain U.S. Government employees, religious workers, foreign medical graduates, employees of international organizations, juveniles, members of the U.S. Armed Forces, and limited number of other individuals. This category is presently current for all countries except for the Philippines. The fifth and final preference category is for "entrepreneurs" and are known as "employment creation" visas. The investment typically required is ,000,000, and requires the creation of at least ten new full-time jobs in the U.S. for individuals other than the investor's spouse or children. This category is presently current for all countries.