An Immigrant Visa category is determined by
the type of petition filed on behalf of the beneficiary that is approved
by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Depending on
the visa category, an immigrant visa is either immediately available
or is numerically limited by law. For immediate relatives of U.S.
citizens (IR category), visa numbers are immediately available
once the petitions filed on their behalf are approved by the USCIS.
Immediate relatives are parents, spouses and minor children (unmarried
and under 21 years of age) of U.S. citizens. Each relative must
have a separate petition filed on his/her behalf.
U.S. law limits the annual number of visas issued for the family-preference
(F) and employment-based (E) categories. Beneficiaries of approved
petitions who fall under these visa categories are not eligible
to apply for immigrant visas until visa numbers become available
for the applicable visa category. This numerical restriction may
result in long waiting periods for applicants in the F and E visa
categories when categories become oversubscribed, that is, when
the number of qualified applicants exceeds the number of visas
available for the year. In some cases, several years can pass
after a petition is approved before a visa number becomes available
for a qualified applicant. The wait is longer in countries where
there is a high demand for immigrant visas such as the Philippines.
U.S. immigration law also allocates the number of immigrant visas
by country.
For the numerically-limited categories, visa
numbers are issued according to the date that petitions are filed
or what is called the priority date. A beneficiary becomes eligible
for a visa number when his/her priority date becomes current.
The State Department releases a Visa
Bulletin regularly, listing the priority dates that are currently
processed for each visa category and country.
Beneficiaries in the F and E visa categories are classified
according to a preference system. Under this system, a single
petition may be for a principal applicant or the individual being
petitioned and “derivative applicants.” Derivative
applicants are spouses and/or minor children (below 21 years of
age) of the principal applicants.
A. FAMILY-SPONSORED IMMIGRANTS: U.S. law limits
visa issuance to relatives of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent
residents (LPR) or family-sponsored
immigrants to a total of 480,000 visas annually.
While IR (immediate relative) visas are included in this count,
there will always be visa numbers immediately available for qualified
IR applicants to use. All other qualifying relatives, as listed
below, are assigned visa numbers from the family-sponsored visa
allocation that immediate relatives do not use.
- First Preference or F1: Adult but unmarried
sons and daughters of U.S. citizens and qualified derivative
family members.
- Second Preference or F2: Spouses and minor
children (below 21) of lawful permanent residents (LPR) apply
for F2A visas while the adult, unmarried sons/daughters of LPRs
apply for F2B visas.
- Third Preference or F3: Married sons and
daughters of U.S. citizens, and their qualified derivative
family members.
- Fourth Preference or F4: Brothers and sisters
of U.S. citizens and their qualified derivative family members.
Note: Only U.S. citizens at least 21 years of age can file petitions.
B. EMPLOYMENT-BASED IMMIGRANTS: A total of
140,000 immigrant visas are available annually for employment-based
(E) applicants. Foreign nationals
who fall under this category are divided into five preference
groups:
- E1 or Priority Workers: Persons of extraordinary ability
in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics;
outstanding professors and researchers; and certain multinational
executives
and managers and their qualified derivative family members.
- E2 or Members of the Professions: Professionals holding
advanced degrees and persons of exceptional ability in the
sciences, arts
and business and their derivative family members.
- E3 or Professionals, Skilled and Unskilled Workers: Professionals
holding baccalaureate degrees, skilled workers with at least
two
years experience, and other workers whose skills are in short
supply in the United States and their qualified derivative
family
members. Nurses and teachers fall under this subcategory.
- E4 or Special Immigrants: Ministers of religion, certain
international organization employees, qualified employees or
former employees
of the United States Government and their qualified derivative
family members.
- E5 or Investors: Persons who create employment for at least
ten unrelated persons by investing capital in a new commercial
enterprise in the United States and who meet the minimum capital
requirements.
For more information on how to file an employment-based petition
click
here.
