January Visa Bulletin for 2021

The Department of State publishes a monthly Visa Bulletin to advise on immigrant visa availability. The Visa Bulletin summarizes the availability of statutorily-limited immigrant visas in two charts: “Final Action Dates” and “Dates for Filing Applications.”

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) then determines which chart in the Visa Bulletin (“Final Action Dates” or “Dates for Filing Applications”) a prospective immigrant must use to file an application for adjustment of status (Form I-485) in any given month.

For Family-Sponsored Filings

• F2A applicants may file using the Final Action Dates chart.
• All other family-sponsored preference categories must use the Dates for Filing chart.

For Employment-Based Preference Filings

• All employment-based preference categories must use the Final Action Dates chart. in the Department of State Visa Bulletin for January 2021.

Below are instructions on how to read and interpret the Visa Bulletin:

1. Find your visa type in the first column (on the left) of the appropriate chart (F1, F2A, F2B, F3, F4 or 1st, 2nd, 3rd, Other Workers, 4th, 5th).
2. Stay in that row and move directly to the right to find the corresponding date under your country of birth (as listed in the boldface columns across the top).
3. If the date on the chart is current (“C”), or your priority date is earlier than the date on the chart, you may file your adjustment of status application (“green card’), if otherwise eligible to do so.
4.  “U” means unauthorized; for example, numbers are not authorized for issuance.

Your priority date is generally the date when your relative or employer properly filed the immigrant visa petition (Form I-130 or Form I-140) on your behalf with the USCIS. If a labor certification (“PERM”) was required to be filed with your immigrant visa petition (Form I-140), the priority date is the date the PERM was accepted for processing by the Department of Labor.

FAMILY-SPONSORED PREFERENCES

F1:     Unmarried Sons and Daughters of U.S. Citizens.

F2A:  Spouses and Children of Permanent Residents.

F2B:  Unmarried Sons and Daughters (21 years of age or older) of Permanent Residents.

F3:    Married Sons and Daughters of U.S. Citizens.

F4:    Brothers and Sisters of Adult U.S. Citizens.

*In the F2A category, there is a cutoff date on the Dates for Filing chart. However, the category is “current” on the Final Action Dates chart. This means that applicants in the F2A category may file using the Final Action Dates chart for January 2021.  

EMPLOYMENT-BASED PREFERENCES

1st:   Priority Workers.

2nd:  Members of the Professions Holding Advanced Degrees or Persons of Exceptional Ability.

3rd:  Skilled Workers, Professionals, and Other Workers.

4th:  Certain Special Immigrants.

5th:  Employment Creation.

The “C” listing indicates that the category is current, and that applications may be filed regardless of the applicant’s priority date. The listing of a date for any category indicates that only applicants with a priority date which is earlier than the listed date may file their application.

If you have an I-130 or I-140 petition approved and are wondering whether you are eligible to apply for a green card by filing Form I-485, Adjustment of Status, contact Lally Immigration Services, LLC at (617) 870-1000 or email immigration lawyer, Dayna Lally, at [email protected].