Visa Bulletin
Number 97 – Volume IX
Washington, D.C.
OCTOBER 2016
As U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has indicated at www.uscis.gov/visabulletininfo, USCIS will use the chart below to determine who may file applications for adjustment of status (Form I-485) with USCIS during the month of October. Only applicants with Priority Dates earlier than the cut-off dates listed below may file their I-485 adjustment of status applications with USCIS during October.
| Family-Sponsored | All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed | CHINA-mainland born | INDIA | MEXICO | PHILIPPINES |
| F1 | 01JAN11 | 01JAN11 | 01JAN11 | 01JUN95 | 01MAY06 |
| F2A | 22NOV15 | 22NOV15 | 22NOV15 | 22NOV15 | 22NOV15 |
| F2B | 08FEB11 | 08FEB11 | 08FEB11 | 01JUN96 | 01FEB07 |
| F3 | 22AUG05 | 22AUG05 | 22AUG05 | 01MAY95 | 01JAN95 |
| F4 | 01JUL04 | 01JUL04 | 01MAY04 | 01DEC97 | 01APR94 |
| Employment-Based | All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed | CHINA-mainland born | INDIA | MEXICO | PHILIPPINES |
| 1st | C | C | C | C | C |
| 2nd | C | 01MAR13 | 22APR09 | C | C |
| 3rd | C | 01MAY14 | 01JUL05 | C | 01SEP13 |
| Other Workers | C | 01AUG09 | 01JUL05 | C | 01SEP13 |
| 4th | C | C | 15JUN15 | C | C |
| Certain Religious Workers | U | U | U | U | U |
| 5th Non-Regional Center | C | 22FEB14 | C | C | C |
| 5th Regional Center | U | U | U | U | U |
“C” = Current. No queue or backlog in this visa category at this time.
“U” = Unavailable. No visas available in this category at this time.
Excerpted from https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/law-and-policy/bulletin/2017/visa-bulletin-for-october-2016.html
FAMILY-SPONSORED PREFERENCES
First: Unmarried Sons and Daughters of Citizens: 23,400 plus any numbers not required for fourth preference.
Second: Spouses and Children, and Unmarried Sons and Daughters of Permanent Residents: 114,200, plus the number (if any) by which the worldwide family preference level exceeds 226,000, and any unused first preference numbers:
A. Spouses and Children: 77% of the overall second preference limitation, of which 75% are exempt from the per-country limit;
B. Unmarried Sons and Daughters (21 years of age or older): 23% of the overall second preference limitation.
Third: Married Sons and Daughters of Citizens: 23,400, plus any numbers not required by first and second preferences.
Fourth: Brothers and Sisters of Adult Citizens: 65,000, plus any numbers not required by first three preferences.
EMPLOYMENT-BASED PREFERENCES
First: Priority Workers: 28.6% of the worldwide employment-based preference level, plus any numbers not required for fourth and fifth preferences.
Second: Members of the Professions Holding Advanced Degrees or Persons of Exceptional Ability: 28.6% of the worldwide employment-based preference level, plus any numbers not required by first preference.
Third: Skilled Workers, Professionals, and Other Workers: 28.6% of the worldwide level, plus any numbers not required by first and second preferences, not more than 10,000 of which to "Other Workers".
Fourth: Certain Special Immigrants: 7.1% of the worldwide level.
Fifth: Employment Creation: 7.1% of the worldwide level, not less than 3,000 of which reserved for investors in a targeted rural or high-unemployment area, and 3,000 set aside for investors in regional centers by Sec. 610 of P.L. 102-395.