The U.S. Department of State's (DOS) September 2015 Visa Bulletin has been released. For updated family and employment-based green card processing times, view the following charts.

What is the Visa Bulletin?
The DOS receives thousands of green card applications every year, which requires the government agency to impose limits on the number of petitions filed annually, per country, resulting in a multi-year backlog for certain categories. The DOS publishes the monthly Visa Bulletin, allowing applicants to learn when their petition is ready for processing. Each date indicates how long the current backlog is, as well as the expected processing time. For example: If your priority date is June 1, 2014 and your EB-3 green card petition from the Philippines has a date of June 1, 2004, your green card may take 10 years to process unless there is a drastic reduction in the backlog.

September 2015 Visa Bulletin: Family Based Green Cards

Source: U.S. Department of State

Month-to-Month Changes

• The Philippines's F-1 category advanced four months.
• The standard F-2A classification advanced three months.
• All other areas advanced at least two weeks except Mexico's F-1 category.

Family based green card categories:

• F1: Unmarried sons and daughters of U.S. citizens
• F2A: Spouses and children of legal permanent residents (LPRs)
• F2B: Unmarried adult children of LPRs
• F3: Married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens
• F4: Brothers and sisters of adult U.S. citizens

September 2015 Visa Bulletin: Employment-Based Green Cards

Source: U.S. Department of State

Month-to-Month Changes

• EB-2 petitions from Chinese nationals regressed seven years.
• EB-2 petitions from Indian nationals regressed more than one year.
• All other noncurrent categories advanced a least one month except for EB-3 Other Worker petitions from Chinese nationals.

Employment-based green card categories:

• EB-1: Priority workers with extraordinary abilities, outstanding professors or researchers, and executives or managers who’ve transferred to the United States
• EB-2: Individuals with advanced degrees, exceptional abilities, or those holding national interest waivers
• EB-3: Skilled workers, professionals, and others who don’t qualify for EB-1 or EB-2
• EB-4: Religious workers, broadcasters, Iraq/Afghan translators, Iraqis who have assisted the United States, physicians, armed forces members, Panama Canal Zone employees, retired NATO-6 employees, spouses and children of deceased NATO-6 employees
• EB-5: Investors who are investing in a new commercial enterprise

Subscribe to our Immigration Blog for an update on next month’s Visa Bulletin. If you need assistance filing a family or employment-based green card, contact VISANOW.