December 2022 Visa Bulletin (Archive)

How To Read the December 2022 Visa Bulletin

The U.S. Department of State has published its December 2022 Visa Bulletin, which shows the most recent priority date cut-offs for green card filings.

The Visa Bulletin can be confusing to look at, so we’ve put all the information you need to know in easy-to-read charts below. To find the cut-off date for your category, you’ll need to know your preference category and your priority date.

Your preference category is based on:

• Your familial connection if you’re applying for a family-based green card

• Your professional credentials and education if you’re applying for an employment-based green card

Your priority date is the date USCIS received your green card application. You can find yours on the Notice of Action (Form I-797) that USCIS sent you via mail or email (if you submitted Form G-1145) after receiving your application.

If your priority date is before the cut-off date listed in the relevant chart below — congratulations! — you can submit your green card application. If your priority date is after the cut-off date, you need to wait to submit your green card application.†

If you want to learn more about the Visa Bulletin, preference categories, or priority dates, you can read our Visa Bulletin guide.

†There are two different dates on the Visa Bulletin: Final Action Dates and Dates for Filing. Each month USCIS announces which date U.S.-based green card applicants should reference. The information in the tables below will always reference whichever date USCIS has announced for the current month.

*Note: For simplicity’s sake, our tables contain the language “All Other Countries” rather than USCIS’s language “All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed,” but the meaning and intent is the same.

Family-Based Green Cards by Preference Category

There has been no change to the cut-off dates for family green cards in any preference category. That means your wait time when you checked last month’s bulletin is still your wait time now. 

Some trends of note:

Mexican nationals continue to have the longest wait times for family-based green cards in all preference categories except F2A/Second Preference, which includes spouses and children of permanent residents and is current for all countries as of the December 2022 Visa Bulletin.

This means Mexican nationals who are siblings, married children, or unmarried children of U.S. citizens or who are unmarried children of a U.S. legal permanent resident must often wait several years longer than people who apply for a family-based green card in the same category from a different country.

Nationals of the Philippines have the second longest family green card wait times by country.

Backlog for F1 (first preference) Green Cards: Unmarried Children (at least 21 years old) of U.S. Citizens

Backlog for F2A (second preference) Green Cards: Spouses and Children of Permanent Residents

Backlog for F2B (Second Preference) Green Cards: Unmarried Sons and Daughters of Permanent Residents

Backlog for F3 (Third Preference) Green Cards: Married Sons and Daughters of U.S. Citizens

Backlog for F4 (Fourth Preference) Green Cards: Brothers and Sisters of Adult U.S. Citizens

What This Means for Family-Based Green Card Applicants

If your priority date is before the cut-off date listed above, you can submit your green card application. If your priority date is after the cut-off date, you need to wait to submit your green card application. Your priority date is the date USCIS received your Form I-130: Petition for Alien Relative. You can find your priority date on the Notice of Action (Form I-797) that USCIS sends you to confirm it’s received your I-130 application.

Employment-Based Green Cards by Preference Category

There is no wait time for EB-1 applicants (priority workers) from any country and most EB-5 (immigrant investors) green card applicants — India and China still have a backlog, though it’s unchanged from last month. Those are the only preference categories for employment green cards that did not see some changes to the current backlog:

• The wait time for EB-2 and EB-3 green card applicants from China and India increased.

  For EB-2 applicants the increase was a moderate 10 days, but for EB-3 applicants the wait increased by one month for Indian applicants and over 1.5 months for applicants from China.

• Good news for EB-4 green card applicants (special immigrants): Wait times decreased by four months for all countries excluding Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.

Backlog for EB-1 Green Cards for Priority Workers

Backlog for EB-2 Green Cards for Members of the Professions Holding Advanced Degrees or Persons of Exceptional Ability

Backlog for EB-3 Green Cards for Skilled Workers, Professionals, and Other Workers

Backlog for EB-4 Green Cards for Certain Special Immigrants

Backlog for EB-5 Green Cards for Immigrant Investors

What This Means for Employment-Based Green Card Applicants

If your priority date is before the cut-off date listed above, you can submit your green card application. If your priority date is after the cut-off date, you need to wait to submit your green card application. Your priority date is the date USCIS received your PERM application or (if not required) the date USCIS received your Form I-140 or Form I-526, employment-based visa petition. You can find your priority date on the Notice of Action (Form I-797) that USCIS sends you to confirm it’s received your employment-based visa application.