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The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has clarified a critical requirement that all prospective immigrants must meet before being granted lawful permanent residency in the country.
According to the USCIS official website, a visa is required before an applicant can take the final steps toward becoming a lawful permanent resident.
The agency notes that because the number of people seeking permanent residency consistently outstrips the limited supply of immigrant visas, not all applicants can be granted one right away.
How Visa Availability Process Works
The US Department of State (DOS) oversees this process through a monthly document known as the Visa Bulletin.
The bulletin provides the most recent dates for when visa numbers become available in various categories, such as family-sponsored, employment-based, and diversity lottery visas.
Three factors influence how long an immigrant must wait:
- their priority date
- their preference category
- the country to which the visa will be charged.
When demand for a specific category and country of chargeability exceeds available supply, the DOS designates that category as “oversubscribed” and implements a cut-off date to keep visa allocations within legal limits.
A visa becomes available to an applicant when their priority date is earlier than the cut-off date listed in the Visa Bulletin for their specific category and country.
What “C” and “U” Mean on the Visa Bulletin
The bulletin also employs two key letter codes that applicants must understand. A category marked “C” indicates that visas are currently available to all qualified applicants in that category and country, with no waiting period required.
When a category is labeled “U,” it indicates that visas in that classification are currently unavailable to all applicants. US announces one green card route.