VISA Bulletin
Visa Bulletin is the publication that provides monthly numbers of the list of applicants and the priority date for the applications included. It is issued for every month of the year by the Department of State. You can treat VISA bulletin as the waiting list if you’re subject to immigration quota.
What to do with this publication though? If the visa you’re anticipated to apply or applied for has a quota you can see it in the Visa Bulletin.
For example, the quota for the Diversity Visa Program (Green Card Lottery) is about 20,000. If the number of people immigrated to the United States via this visa were to be 20,000 in November, the applicants for December would have to wait for the next period. This doesn’t really apply to the Diversity Visa Program but you get the idea.
The purpose of the Visa Bulletin is to give the needed numbers to upcoming immigrants to the United States. Generally, the Visa Bulletin is released in the third week of every month showing the current numbers up to that date.
Update: Visa Bulletin for November 2024 has been released by the Department of State.
With this newly published Visa Bulletin, you can see:
- Statutory Numbers
- Family-Sponsored Preferences
- Employment-Based Preferences
- Diversity Immigrant Numbers
Want to be notified when the Department of State releases Visa Bulleting for each month? You can request to be subscribed to the Visa Bulletin by sending an e-mail to listserv @ calist.state.gov. In your e-mail, mention Subscribe Visa-Bulletin and to be removed, e-mail Signoff Visa-Bulletin to the same e-mail address.
