Immigrant Visa Numbers
What is an Immigrant Visa Number?
How Do I Apply for an Immigrant Visa Number?
How Can I Find Out When an Immigrant Visa Number Will Be Available for Me?
How Can I Get the Visa Bulletin?
Immigrant Visas
Related Links:
The Immigration Process
The Preference System
National Visa Center
State Department Visa Bulletin
Family Immigration
Employment Immigration
Investment Immigration
Becoming a Permanent Resident (Immigrant) While in the U.S.
Immigration Home Page
What is an Immigrant Visa Number?
Obtaining an immigrant visa number is an essential step in the immigration process, and it means that an immigrant visa has been assigned to you.
The immediate relatives of U.S. citizens, which includes parents, spouses and unmarried children under the age of 21, do not have to wait for an immigrant visa number to become available once the immigrant visa petition filed for them is approved. An immigrant visa number will be immediately available for immediate relatives of U.S. citizens.
Other relatives and all people who want to become immigrants based on employment must wait for a visa to become available according to the preference system. U.S. law limits the number of immigrant visa numbers that are available every year, so you may not get an immigrant visa number immediately after your immigrant visa petition is approved. In some cases, several years could pass between the time the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) approves your immigrant visa petition and the State Department gives you an immigrant visa number. Because U.S. law also limits the number of immigrant visas available by country, you may have to wait longer if you come from a country with a high demand for U.S. immigrant visas.
How Do I Apply for an Immigrant Visa Number?
You do not directly apply for an immigrant visa number. In most cases, your relative or employer sends a visa petition to the USCIS for you (the beneficiary) to become an immigrant. (Certain applicants such as priority workers, investors, certain special immigrants, and diversity immigrants can petition on their own behalf.) USCIS will tell the person who filed the visa petition (the petitioner) if the visa petition is approved. USCIS will then send the approved visa petition to the Department of State's National Visa Center, where it will remain until an immigrant visa number is available. The Center will notify you (the beneficiary of the application) when the visa petition is received and again when an immigrant visa number is available. You do not need to contact the National Visa Center, unless you change your address or there is a change in your personal situation that may affect your eligibility for an immigrant visa. You may contact the National Visa Center by writing to: The National Visa Center; 32 Rochester Avenue; Portsmouth, New Hampshire 03801-2909.
How Can I Find Out When an Immigrant Visa Number Will Be Available for Me?
Each approved visa petition is placed in chronological order according to the date the visa petition was filed. The date the visa petition was filed is known as your priority date. The State Department publishes a bulletin that shows the month and year of the visa petitions they are working on by country and preference category. You can estimate of the amount of time it will take to get an immigrant visa number by comparing your priority date with the date listed in the bulletin. For instance, suppose you look under your country and preference category, and see that the State Department is working on applications they received in May 1996. If your priority date is May 1998, then you may have to wait several more years for an immigrant visa number to become available.