January 2021 Visa Bulletin

The Department of State has released the January 2021 Visa Bulletin for Employment and Family Based green card applications. To be eligible to file an adjustment of status application for January 2021, you must have a Priority Date that is earlier than the date listed on the chart here for your preference category and country.  USCIS has chosen the Final Action Date for Employment Based filings.

Highlights of the January 2021 Visa Bulletin:

• EB-1: All countries except for China and India will remain current in January. China and India will advance by five months to September 1, 2019.

• EB-2: China will advance by one month to June 1, 2016, while India will advance by one week to October 8, 2009. All other countries will remain current.

• EB-3 Professionals and Skilled Workers: Cutoff dates for China will advance one and a half months to December 15, 2017, and for India will advance one week to March 22, 2010. All other countries will remain current in January.

• Family Based preference categories will use the Dates for Filing chart, except F2A, which will use the Final Action Date chart.

KEY TERMS

• Priority Date (Employment-based): the date your immigrant petition (I-140 petition) was filed, or if you were subject to the PERM Labor Market Test process, the date the Labor Certification was filed with the Department of Labor.

• Priority Date (Family-based): the date your immigrant petition (I-130 petition) was filed.

• Preference Category (Employment-based): First Preference is EB-1 Priority Workers (i.e. Extraordinary Ability, Outstanding Researcher, or Multinational Manager petitions), Second Preference is EB-2 Members of the Professions Holding Advanced Degrees or Persons of Exceptional Ability; Third Preference is EB-3 Skilled Workers, Professionals, and Other Workers, Fourth Preference is Certain Special Immigrants, and Fifth Preference is EB-5 Employment Creation.

• Preference Category (Family-based): First Preference is Unmarried Sons and Daughters of U.S. Citizens, Second Preference is Spouses and Children, and Unmarried Sons and Daughters of Permanent Residents broken down to F2A (Spouses and Children of Permanent Residents) and F2B (Unmarried Sons and Daughters (21 years of age or older) of Permanent Residents), Third Preference is Married Sons and Daughters of U.S. Citizens, and Fourth Preference is Brothers and Sisters of Adult U.S. Citizens.

• Country: This is the country of your birth, even if you have become a citizen in a different country.