Priority date

For the concept of priority date in patent law, see priority right.

Priority date is a United States immigration concept - it is the date of filling for labor certification.

A common path to the green card in the United States is to obtain it through a family based or employment based petition, a very complex process that can take many years to complete. When a foreign worker, usually on a temporary work visa such as an H-1B with a U.S. employer, begins the green card process, the first step is to complete labor certification to prove that a qualified American worker could not be found to fill the position the foreign worker is taking. Labor certification is not required if applying in the EB1 category. The labor certification process has undergone a number of changes in recent years, from the laborious supervised recruitment process, to the Reduction-in-Recruitment (RIR) process, and now to the much faster online PERM system. In all cases, the date the labor certification is filed (directly with the [[Unite.gov/visa/bulletin/bulletin_1360.html] which lists cutoff priority dates for different immigration categories and birth countries. Only those intending immigrants with priority dates before the cutoff date are permitted to file their Adjustment of Status (AOS) applications and obtain their green card. The cutoff dates generally move forward over time as old cases are disposed of. However, in certain cases, such as if a large number of old cases work their way through the system at about the same time, the cutoff dates can actually retrogress (or roll back). If an individual already has a pending AOS application on file when a retrogression occurs that places the cutoff earlier than the applicant's priority date, USCIS sets the application aside and will not adjudicate it until the priority date is current again. As an example, after months of stagnation, in June 2007 the priority date cutoffs for employment-based second and third preference (EB2 and EB3) applicants (the bulk of employment-based green card applicants) advanced dramatically for all countries of birth. On the low end, the cutoff advanced eight months for immigrants from mainland China with jobs requiring Master's degrees. EB3 for India-born applicants has moved forward 25 months, the most of any category, thus impacting a huge number of workers with jobs requiring Bachelor's degrees.

For individuals starting the employment-based green card process now, country of birth and job requirements are paramount in determining how long the overall process will take. Individuals from countries other than China or India with jobs requiring a Master's degree can complete the entire process, from labor certification to receiving the green card, in as little as four months (in a best case scenario), if there is no backlog of visa availability, i.e., all priority dates are current. Workers from China or India with jobs requiring only a Bachelor's degree can expect to wait years after filing the labor certification and immigrant visa petition to become eligible to file the final application for the green card itself.

Recent development

• On June 14, 2007 all the cutoff dates except Other Workers category became current: first July Visa Bulletin No. 107
• On the morning of July 2, 2007 employment-based visas became unavailable again, with July 1, 2007 being Sunday: second July Visa Bulletin No. 108
• On July 17, 2007 all the cutoff dates except Other Workers category have become current again until August 17, 2007. [1]

On July 17, 2007 United States Department of State (DOS) issued the August Visa Bulletin No. 109. Although the August Visa Bulletin indicates that visa numbers for employment-based cases are “unavailable” for August, it states the following:

"After consulting with Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Visa Office advises readers that Visa Bulletin No. 107 (dated June 12) should be relied upon as the current July Visa Bulletin for purposes of determining Employment visa number availability, and that Visa Bulletin #108 (dated July 2) is hereby withdrawn."

What this means is that the first July Visa Bulletin No. 107 which indicated that visa numbers were available for employment-based cases for all categories and for all individuals, irrespective of birth, (except Other Workers category) is still valid, and that second July Visa Bulletin No. 108 is nullified. For all practical purposes, the USCIS will now accept AOS cases from all individuals in the abovementioned categories.

http://immitips.com/2012/03/update-eb2-priority-date-internal-retrogression-in-effect/

• Despite the retrogression of the China and India Employment Second preference cut-off date to August 15, 2007, demand for numbers by applicants with priority dates earlier than that date remained excessive. Such demand is primarily based on cases which had originally been filed with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for adjustment of status in the Employment Third preference category, and are now eligible to be upgraded to Employment Second preference status. The potential amount of such “upgrade” demand is not currently being reported, but it was evident that the continued availability of Employment Second preference numbers for countries other than China and India was being jeopardized. Therefore, it was necessary to make the China and India Employment Second preference category “Unavailable” in early April, and it will remain so for the remainder of FY-2012.

"Numbers will once again be available for China and India Employment Second preference cases beginning October 1, 2012 under the FY-2013 annual numerical limitations. Every effort will be made to return the China and India Employment Second preference cut-off date to the May 1, 2010 date which had been reached in April 2012. Readers should be advised that it is impossible to accurately estimate how long that may take, but current indications are that it would definitely not occur before spring 2013. "

USCIS has indicated that it will continue accepting China and India Employment Second preference I-485 filings during May, based on the originally announced May cut-off date. June 2012 Visa Bulletin

EB2 cut-off dates

DATE	INDIA	CHINA	Rest of the World
Sep 2012	Unavailable	Unavailable	Jan 1st, 09
Aug 2012	Unavailable	Unavailable	Jan 1st, 09
Jul 2012	Unavailable	Unavailable	Jan 1st, 09
Jun 2012	Unavailable	Unavailable	Current
May 2012	Aug 15th, 07	Aug 15th, 07	Current
Apr 2012	May 1st, 10	May 1st, 10	Current
Mar 2012	May 1st, 10	May 1st, 10	Current
Feb 2012	Jan 1st, 10	Jan 1st, 10	Current
Jan 2012	Jan 1st, 09	Jan 1st, 09	Current
Dec 2011	Mar 15th, 08	Mar 15th, 08	Current
Nov 2011	Nov 1st, 07	Nov 1st, 07	Current
Oct 2011	Jul 15th, 07	Jul 15th, 07	Current
Sep 2011	Apr 15th, 07	Apr 15th, 07	Current
Aug 2011	Apr 15th, 07	Apr 15th, 07	Current
Jul 2011	Mar 8th, 07	Mar 8th, 07	Current
Jun 2011	Oct 15th, 06	Oct 15th, 06	Current
May 2011	Jul 1st, 06	Aug 1st, 06	Current
Apr 2011	May 8th, 06	Jul 22nd, 06	Current
Mar 2011	May 8th, 06	Jul 8th, 06	Current
Feb 2011	May 8th, 06	Jul 1st, 06	Current
Jan 2011	May 8th, 06	Jun 22nd, 06	Current
Dec 2010	May 8th, 06	Jun 8th, 06	Current
Nov 2010	May 8th, 06	Jun 1st, 06	Current
Oct 2010	May 8th, 06	May 22nd, 06	Current
Sep 2010	May 8th, 06	May 8th, 06	Current
Aug 2010	Mar 1st, 06	Mar 1st, 06	Current
Jul 2010	Oct 1st, 05	Nov 22nd, 05	Current
Jun 2010	Feb 1st, 05	Nov 22nd, 05	Current
May 2010	Feb 1st, 05	Sep 22nd, 05	Current
Apr 2010	Feb 1st, 05	Aug 22nd, 05	Current
Mar 2010	Feb 1st, 05	Jul 8th, 05	Current
Feb 2010	Jan 22nd, 05	May 22nd, 05	Current
Jan 2010	Jan 22nd, 05	May 22nd, 05	Current
Dec 2009	Jan 22nd, 05	Apr 1st, 05	Current
Nov 2009	Jan 22nd, 05	Apr 1st, 05	Current
Oct 2009	Jan 22nd, 05	Mar 22nd, 05	Current
Sep 2009	Jan 8th, 05	Jan 8th, 05	Current
Aug 2009	Oct 1st, 03	Oct 1st, 03	Current
Jul 2009	Jan 1st, 00	Jan 1st, 00	Current
Jun 2009	Jan 1st, 00	Feb 15th, 05	Current
May 2009	Feb 15th, 04	Feb 15th, 05	Current
Apr 2009	Feb 15th, 04	Feb 15th, 05	Current
Mar 2009	Feb 15th, 04	Feb 15th, 05	Current
Feb 2009	Jan 1st, 04	Jan 1st, 05	Current
Jan 2009	Jul 1st, 03	Jul 8th, 04	Current
Dec 2008	Jun 1st, 03	Jun 1st, 04	Current
Nov 2008	Jun 1st, 03	Jun 1st, 04	Current
Oct 2008	Apr 1st, 03	Apr 1st, 04	Current
Sep 2008	Aug 1st, 06	Aug 1st, 06	Current
Aug 2008	Jun 1st, 06	Jun 1st, 06	Current
Jul 2008	Apr 1st, 04	Apr 1st, 04	Current
Jun 2008	Apr 1st, 04	Apr 1st, 04	Current
May 2008	Jan 1st, 04	Jan 1st, 04	Current
Jul 2007	Current	Current	Current
Jun 2007	1-Apr-04		Current
May 2007	8-Jan-03		Current
Apr 2007	8-Jan-03		Current
Mar 2007	8-Jan-03		Current
Feb 2007	8-Jan-03		Current
Jan 2007	8-Jan-03		Current
Dec 2006	8-Jan-03		Current
Nov 2006	1-Jan-03		Current
Oct 2006	15-Jun-02		Current

EB3 cut-off dates (excluding EW - other workers)

Date	India	China	All others
Sep 2012	Oct 8th, 02	Dec 15th, 05	Oct 1st, 06
Aug 2012	Oct 1st, 02	Nov 8th, 05	Sep 8th, 06
Jul 2012	Sep 22nd, 02	Sep 22nd, 05	Jul 22nd, 06
Jun 2012	Sep 15th, 02	Aug 8th, 05	Jun 8th, 06
May 2012	Sep 8th, 02	Apr 1st, 05	May 1st, 06
Apr 2012	Sep 1st, 02	Mar 1st, 05	Apr 8th, 06
Mar 2012	Aug 22nd, 02	Jan 1st, 05	Mar 15th, 06
Feb 2012	Aug 15th, 02	Dec 1st, 04	Feb 22nd, 06
Jan 2012	Aug 8th, 02	Oct 15th, 04	Feb 1st, 06
Dec 2011	Aug 1st, 02	Sep 8th, 04	Jan 15th, 06
Nov 2011	Jul 22nd, 02	Aug 22th, 04	Dec 22nd, 05
Oct 2011	Jul 15th, 06	Aug 8th, 04	Dec 8th, 05
Sep 2011	Jul 8th, 02	Jul 15th, 04	Nov 1st, 05
Aug 2011	Jun 1st, 02	Jul 8th, 04	Nov 1st, 05
Jul 2011	May 1st, 02	Jul 1st, 04	Jul 1st, 05
Jun 2011	Apr 22nd, 02	May 15th, 04
Apr 2011	Apr 8th, 02	Mar 1st, 04
Mar 2011	Mar 15th, 02	Jan 22nd, 04
Feb 2011	Feb 22nd, 02	Jan 1st, 04
Jan 2011	Feb 1st, 02	Dec 15th, 03
Dec 2010	Jan 22nd, 02	Dec 8th, 03
Nov 2010	Jan 22nd, 02	Nov 22nd, 03
Oct 2010	Jan 15th, 02	Nov 8th, 03
Sep 2010	Jan 1st, 02	Oct 22nd, 03
Aug 2010	Jan 1st, 02	Sep 22nd, 03
Jul 2010	Nov 22nd, 01	Aug 15th, 03
Jun 2010	Oct 22nd, 01	Jun 22nd, 03
May 2010	Oct 1st, 01	Apr 22nd, 03
Apr 2010	Sep 8th, 01	Feb 1st, 03
Mar 2010	Jul 1st, 01	Dec 15th, 02
Feb 2010	Jun 22nd, 01	Sep 22nd, 02
Jan 2010	Jun 22nd, 01	Aug 1st, 02
Dec 2009	May 1st, 01	Jun 1st, 01
Nov 2009	Apr 22nd, 01	Jun 1st, 01
Oct 2009	Apr 15th, 01	Feb 22nd, 02
Sep 2009	U	U
Aug 2009	U	U
Jul 2009	U	U
Jun 2009	U	U
May 2009	U	U
Apr 2009	Nov 1st, 01	Mar 1st, 02
Mar 2009	Oct 15th, 01	Oct 22nd, 02
Feb 2009	Oct 15th, 01	Oct 1st, 02
Jan 2009	Oct 15th, 01	Jun 1st, 02

External links

• Visa Bulletin, the United States Department of State
• Mumbai Consulate website to check priority dates
• USCIS definition of the first preference, EB1, category
• USCIS definition of the second preference, EB2, category
• USCIS definition of the third preference, EB3, category
• Visa Bulletin March 2011 An analysis of the latest visa bulletin.
• Priority Date Calculator, Useful tool that estimates when your Priority Date may become current. Works for both EB and FB categories. The original tool.
• Check If Your Priority Date Is Current Here, A very handy and valuable tool to check if your priority date is current. It also allows you to sign-up for updates when your priority date becomes current. It automatically updates itself with the latest visa bulletin every month. Currently works for only EB categories.