Visa Bulletin Employment based Preferences Cut off Dates

Employment-based Visa Allocation

Section 201 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) sets an annual minimum family-sponsored preference limit of 226,000. The worldwide level for annual employment-based preference immigrants is at least 140,000. Section 202 prescribes that the per-country limit for preference immigrants is set at 7% of the total annual family-sponsored and employment-based preference limits, i.e., 25,620. The dependent area limit is set at 2%, or 7,320.

The employment-based preferences are defined as follows:

First - Priority Workers

28.6% of the worldwide employment-based preference level, plus any numbers not required for fourth and fifth preferences.

Second - 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 required by first preference.

Third - Skilled Workers, Professionals, and Other Workers

28.6% of the worldwide level, plus any numbers not required by first and second preferences, not more than 10,000 of which to "Other Workers". Section 203(e) of the Nicaraguan and Central American Relief Act (NACARA) passed by Congress in November 1997, as amended by Section 1(e) of Public Law 105-139, reduces this number by up to 5,000 annually beginning in the fiscal year 2002.

Fourth - Certain Special Immigrants

7.1% of the worldwide level.

Fifth - Employment Creation

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 Public Law 102-395.

Employment-based Visa Retrogression

In the early 2000s, "accounting problems" between USCIS’s processing of LPR adjustments of status in the United States and Bureau of Consular Affairs (BCA), Department of State processing of LPR visas abroad became apparent. Most employment-based LPRs are adjusting status from within the United States rather than being admitted to the United States from abroad. BCA is dependent on USCIS for current processing data on which to allocate the visa numbers and calculate the employment-based visa priority dates. Therefore, DOS may understate the actual number of approved petitions if USCIS does not forward "adjusting" LPR petitions to the National Visa Center in advance of BCA reaching the visa priority date for each month.

When the visa priority dates move backward in time rather than forward, the phenomenon is known as visa retrogression. Visa retrogression occurs when more people apply for a visa in a particular category or country than there are visas available.

This can result from problems in forwarding approved petitions to the National Visa Center in a timely manner. To cite one example, the Visa Bulletin for September 2005 offered this explanation for visa retrogression:

The backlog reduction efforts of both Citizenship and Immigration Services, and the Department of Labor continue to result in very heavy demand for Employment-based numbers. It is anticipated that the amount of such cases will be sufficient to use all available numbers in many categories ... demand in the Employment categories is expected to be far in excess of the annual limits, and once established, cut-off date movements are likely to be slow.

The most substantial visa retrogression occurred in July 2007. The Visa Bulletin for July 2007 listed the visa priority dates as "current" for the employment-based preferences (except for the unskilled other worker category). On July 2, 2007, however, the State Department issued an Update to July Visa Availability that retrogressed the dates to "unavailable." The State Department offered the following explanation: "The sudden backlog reduction efforts by Citizenship and Immigration Services Offices during the past month have resulted in the use of almost 60,000 Employment numbers.... Effective Monday July 2, 2007 there will be no further authorizations in response to requests for Employment-based preference cases." Visas in the employment-based categories were unavailable until the beginning of FY2008. Reportedly, USCIS now forwards all approved petitions to the National Visa Center, with the notable exception of those who would clearly be adjusting status within the United States.

An additional visa retrogression occurred in October 2015. DOS released a revised Visa Bulletin for October 2015, in which it stated that after consultation with DHS, some of the dates for filing applications had been adjusted to "better reflect a timeframe justifying immediate action in the application process." With regard to employment-based preference categories, the retrogression affected the 2nd preference category for petitions from India and China.

Historical Data

This page tracks the Employment-based Preferences cut-off date movements for all oversubscribed countries and rest of the world.

Fiscal Year 2017

USCIS has determined that for the month of October 2016, applicants for all family-sponsored and employment-based preferences may use the Dates for Filing Visa Applications chart, except for certain employment-based fourth preference (EB-4) non-minister religious workers and for employment-based fifth preference (EB-5) Regional Center Program participants. These two groups must use the Application Final Action Dates chart.

Fiscal Year 2016

A significant change in FY 2016 of visa bulletin is the separation of "Application Final Action Dates" and "Dates For Filing Applications". USCIS, in coordination with DOS, revised the procedures for determining visa availability for applicants waiting to file for adjustment of status. The revised process is claimed to better align with procedures DOS uses for foreign nationals who seek to become U.S. permanent residents by applying for immigrant visas at U.S. consulates and embassies abroad.

The October, 2015 visa bulletin was revised on Revised September 25, 2015.

Dates For Filing Applications

Notes: the dates below are never used for application acceptance purpose by USCIS throughout the fiscal year.

Fiscal Year 2011

Visa Bulletin For May 2011 also has a note on allocation of “otherwise unused” numbers in accordance with Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) Section 202(a)(5).