The second installment of the Summer Green Card Series explained the function of the Visa Bulletin. In the third installment, we cover how to read the Visa Bulletin and answer some common Visa Bulletin-related questions.
How to Read the Visa Bulletin
The above figure is the Visa Bulletin’s Final Action Date Chart for July 2019, which USCIS indicated should be used to determine whether a foreign national is subject to a filing backlog. Applicants must first determine their employment-based category. The applicant must then look to their corresponding country of origin. The ...
Often times, the first question asked by employment-based Green Card beneficiaries during an initial strategy consultation is, “How long until I have my Green Card in hand?” While the answer varies depending on the particular Green Card strategy and the candidate’s country of birth, the Visa Bulletin is always a factor that must be considered. Particularly for Indian and Chinese nationals, Visa Bulletin backlogs can delay issuance of a Green Card for many years. In some cases, the wait can be nearly a decade. In this post, we explain the Visa Bulletin’s function. In our third ...