As of 2017, there were 3.7 million people waiting for a visa number to become available to them so they can apply for a green card. One of the most important pieces of information in your immigrant visa case is your priority date, which is the date when a visa number will be available for you. They use a “priority date” to mark the individual’s place in line. immigration law limits the number of green cards issued each year in most categories. Visa wait times are not only dependent on the procedural processing of paperwork as described above. Processing times don’t explain the ridiculously long waits that some people experience. At that point, your case is considered “outside of processing times.” Until then, “no news is good news,” most of the time. You can submit a request about your case when your case is past the date on the highest number of months in the processing times range. To check the processing time for your type of form, go to the USCIS Processing Times website, choose your type of form, and the field office processing your case. USCIS updates their estimated processing times each month. Most of the time it doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with your application or USCIS is missing any pieces of information to make a decision in your case. Given that, it’s normal that processing times across the board are high. It’s important to understand that the United States receives more immigrant visa applications than any other country in the world. To facilitate the interview, the applicant should take several supporting documents. Depending on the situation, the petitioner may have to be present. embassy or consulate abroad, depending on the case. Interviews may take place in a USCIS field office or a U.S. RECOMMENDED: Family-Based Immigration in the United States government that you will not become a “public charge” once you are in the U.S. Some applications require an Affidavit of Support (Form I-864), showing that the person petitioning for you, or a qualifying sponsor, will vouch for you financially and step in if you are unable to support yourself while in the U.S. For family-based immigration, the sponsor can file the immigrant visa petition (Form I-130) for a beneficiary who is inside the United States ( adjustment of status) or outside the U.S. The process involves submitting a visa petition with supporting evidence, going through a review process, and completing an interview. You can see a flowchart of the process here. USCIS manages most of the immigration process. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the U.S. Regardless of the category under which you may qualify, the process involves multiple government agencies, including U.S. Most people know it as a permanent resident card or “green card.” There are many ways in which a person can become a permanent resident in the United States, but most immigrant visas fall under these categories: But why exactly are visa wait times so long? And what will President Biden do to improve it? The Immigrant Visa Process, in a NutshellĪn immigrant visa allows you to live and work in the United States permanently. immigrant visa involves “getting in line” with hundreds of thousands of people. immigration offices and embassies’ closures based on COVID-19 protocols. During 2020, many applicants for immigrant visas experienced significant delays in their cases due to U.S. Visa wait times seem to just grow longer.Īll of these steps, plus the annual limits in some visa categories, make wait times exceptionally long. During the Trump administration, we also saw higher denial rates and Requests for Evidence (RFEs) in many categories of immigrant visas. Over the years, the number of applications for immigrant visas has reached record levels. Applicants have to submit paperwork that sometimes spans several years of their lives and make their case in front of immigration officers multiple times. Coming Changes Could Reduce Green Card and Visa Processing TimesĪpplying for an immigrant visa to the United States is an all-consuming process.
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