What is a priority Date?
Priority date is the date that an alien initially files his case to USCIS by applying for an immigrant visa. For a family based petition, the priority date is the date the Alien Relative Petition (Form I-130) was filed. For employment-based applicant, the priority date will be the date a Petition for Alien Worker (Form I-140) was filed.
What is a cut-off date?
Every month the State Department publishes a monthly visa bulletin based on the priority date to regulate who is eligible to adjust to permanent status or Consular Processing. On the list, the State Department provides a date for each category of preferences for the family-based and employment-based immigrant applications. This date is the cut-off date.
What is the point of the priority dates and cut off dates?
The priority date and cut-off date determines when an alien can file an application to adjust to permanent resident. If the priority date is earlier than the cut-off date, the alien can apply for his green card. If the alien’s priority date is after the cut-off date, the alien has to wait until his priority date becomes current before the alien can apply for his green card.
Who needs to know about the priority date?
The priority dates affect those aliens who belong to one of the four preference categories in family-based petitions. They are:
1st Category : Unmarried Sons & Daughters of Citizens
2nd Category: Spouses & Children, and Unmarried Sons and Daughters of Permanent Residents
3rd Category: Married Sons & Daughters of Citizens
4th Category: Brothers & Sisters of Adult Citizens
The priority dates also affect those aliens who belong to one of the five prefence categories in employment-based petitions. They are the following:
1st Category : Priority Workers
2nd Category: Professionals Holding Advanced Degrees or Persons of Exceptional Ability
3rd Category: Skilled workers, Professionals and Other Workers
4th Category: Certain Special Immigrant
5th Category: Employment Creation
Who does NOT have to worry about Priority Dates?
Immediate family members of U.S. citizens do not have to worry about priority dates and are not subject to the annual immigrant visa quota. Immediate family members include spouses, parents and unmarried children under the age of 21 of U.S. Citizens.
Where do I find the Visa Bulletin
Every month, the State Department posts a new visa bulletin with the updated priority dates. You can access the bulletin at http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/bulletin/bulletin_1360.html
This will have the most current bulletin as well as past monthly visa bulletins.
Se habla español / Nous parlons français / 
Major Credit Cards Accepted
