The April 2022 Visa Bulletin is now available. The new tables include dates for consular filing and final visa issuance action by U.S. embassies or consulates.
If you want to see the tables of the Visa Bulletin about Filing for Adjustment of Status (immigrant visa applications filed within the U.S.) U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) by April 2022 click here.
Several of the employment categories do not have visas available. The reasons are explained at the end of this article.
What is the April 2022 Visa Bulletin?
Each month, the U.S. Department of State (USDOS) publishes a report that specifies the availability and priority date of immigrant visas that are ready for processing and establishes the cut-off date after which visas will no longer be available for each visa category.
The Visa Bulletin lists the priority dates for applicants according to visa categories: family-based, employment-based, and diversity visa program (visa lottery). It also updates the dates for the various categories based on the immigrants' countries of origin, the number of visas that have been issued so far, and an estimate of visa demand.
The information in the Visa Bulletin may change from month to month. It is useful to find out how much of a delay there is for different types of immigrant visa applications.
This monthly report serves as a guide for issuing visas at U.S. consulates and embassies. USCIS also uses the Visa Bulletin to determine whether it can accept or adjudicate an Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status.
If you are waiting your turn for a visa, the Visa Bulletin allows you to monitor the movement of deadlines to find out when your priority date is being processed.
How to Read the April 2022 Visa Bulletin Tables
The U.S. Department of State and USCIS publish two tables for each visa preference category with the following information:
Family or employment based cases
In the sections where a "C" is marked, it means that the category is current or available, and that applications may be filed regardless of the applicant's priority date. In the sections marked "U," it means that the category is "not" current or "unavailable," and that "no" applications may be filed regardless of the applicant's priority date.
Final Action Dates: dates on which immigrant visas can finally be issued.
Dates for Filing: earliest date a person can file an application for an immigrant visa.
Visa Bulletin April 2022
These are the tables of the Visa Bulletin for April 2022 of the U.S. Department of State published for cases based on the family, employment or the fiscal year 2022 visa lottery:
Final Action Dates for Family Based Case Requests
Types of Family Preference
- First preference (F1): unmarried children, over the age of twenty-one, of U.S. citizens.
- Second preference A (F2A): spouses of permanent residents and unmarried children, under the age of twenty-one, of permanent residents.
- Second preference B (F2B): unmarried children, over the age of twenty-one, of permanent residents.
- Third preference (F3): married children of U.S. citizens, their spouses and unmarried children under the age of twenty-one.
- Fourth preference (F4): siblings of U.S. citizens, their spouses and unmarried children under the age of twenty-one.
| Pfamily-based referral | All countries except those listed | CHINA |
INDIA | MEXICO | PHILIPPINES |
| F1 | 01DEC14 | 01DEC14 | 01DEC14 | 01JAN00 | 01MAR12 |
| F2A | C | C | C | C | C |
| F2B | 22SEP15 | 22SEP15 | 22SEP15 | 01JAN01 | 22OCT11 |
| F3 | 22NOV08 | 22NOV08 | 22NOV08 | 15SEP97 | 08JUN02 |
| F4 | 22MAR07 | 22MAR07 | 15SEP05 | 01JAN00 | 22 AUG02 |
Dates for submitting family-based case applications
| Pfamily-based referral | All countries except those listed | CHINA | INDIA | MEXICO | PHILIPPINES |
| F1 | 15MAY16 | 15MAY16 | 15MAY16 | 01MAY01 | 22ABR15 |
| F2A | C | C | C | C | C |
| F2B | 22SEP16 | 22SEP16 | 22SEP16 | 22ABR01 | 01OCT13 |
| F3 | 22 AUG09 | 22 AUG09 | 22 AUG09 | 01MAR01 | 08NOV03 |
| F4 | 01OCT07 | 01OCT07 | 22FEB06 | 22DEC00 | 22ABR04 |
Final action dates for employment-based case applications
Types of Employment Preference:
- First preference (EB-1): priority workers.
- Second preference (EB-2): professionals with advanced degrees and persons of exceptional ability.
- Third preference (EB-3): skilled workers, professionals and unskilled workers.
- Fourth preference (EB-4): certain special immigrants.
- Fifth preference (EB-5): immigrant investors.
| Category based on employment | All countries except those listed | CHINA | EL SALVADOR GUATEMALA HONDURAS | INDIA | MEXICO | PHILIPPINES |
| 1st | C | C | C | C | C | C |
| 2nd | C | 01MAR19 | C | 08JUL13 | C | C |
| 3rd | C | 22MAR18 | C | 15JAN12 | C | C |
| Other Workers | C | 01JUN12 | C | 15JAN12 | C | C |
| 4th | C | C | 01MAY17 | C | 01ABR20 | C |
| Certain Religious Workers | U | U | U | U | U | U |
| 5th Non-Regional Center (C5 and T5) | C | C | C | C | C | C |
| 5th Regional Center (I5 and R5) | U | U | U | U | U | U |
Dates for submitting applications for employment-based cases
| Category based on employment | All countries except those listed | CHINA | EL SALVADOR GUATEMALA HONDURAS | INDIA | MEXICO | PHILIPPINES |
| 1st | C | C | C | C | C | C |
| 2nd | C | 01ABR19 | C | 01SEP14 | C | C |
| 3rd | C | 01ABR18 | C | 22JAN12 | C | C |
| Other Workers | C | 01 AUG15 | C | 22JAN12 | C | C |
| 4th | C | C | 15JUN17 | C | C | C |
| Certain Religious Workers | C | C | 15JUN17 | C | C | C |
| 5th Non-Regional Center (C5 and T5) | C | C | C | C | C | C |
| 5th Regional Center (I5 and R5) | C | 15DEC15 | C | C | C | C |
Dates for filing FY 2022 visa lottery-based case applications
How to read the table of cases based on the FY 2022 Diversity Visa Program (DV, visa lottery).
Below are the allocation cut-off numbers for diversity visas, based on region or eligible countries, for applicants who meet all requirements. When a maximum number is shown, it means that there are only visas available for DV applicants below the number specifically allocated in the region.
The person who "wins the lottery" is only entitled to receive immigrant status in the DV category until the end of the visa fiscal year for which he or she was selected. For all applicants registered in the FY 2022 visa lottery, that entitlement ends on September 30, 2022.
DV visas may not be issued to DV-2022 lottery participants after that date. This also applies to spouses and children of FY 2022 visa lottery winners, who are only entitled to derivative DV status until September 30, 2022.
There can be no guarantee that DV visas will be available until the end of fiscal year 2022, because they could be exhausted before September 30, 2022.
| Region | All areas except listings | |
|---|---|---|
| AFRICA | 50,000 | Except: Egypt 12,500 |
| ASIA | 17,000 |
Except: Iran 6,100 Nepal 4,350 |
| EUROPE | 27,000 | |
| NORTH AMERICA (BAHAMAS) | 10 | |
| OCEANIA | 1,200 | |
| SOUTH AMERICA, and the CARIBBEAN | 1,300 |
Important additional information for the April 2022 Visa Bulletin
1. EXPIRATION OF THE I5 AND R5 EMPLOYMENT-BASED FIFTH PREFERENCE VISA CATEGORIES FOR REGIONAL CENTERS.
The EB-5 Regional Immigrant Center Program's statutory authority expired on June 30, 2021, under Division O, Title I, Section 104 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021.
After June 30, 2021, no I5 or R5 visas will be issued, and no final decisions will be made on adjustment of status cases.
For the month of April, the final action dates for the I5 and R5 categories have been marked as "Not Available".
On March 15, 2022, President Biden signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022, which reauthorizes and changes the EB-5 Immigrant Regional Center Program. Certain provisions of this legislation related to the Regional Center Program become effective 60 days after enactment.
More information will be available in future editions of the Visa Bulletin.
2. SCHEDULED EXPIRATION OF FOURTH PREFERENCE EMPLOYMENT CATEGORY FOR CERTAIN RELIGIOUS WORKERS (SR)
The Fourth Preference category of Employment Certain Religious Workers (RH) was extended through March 11, 2022, through H.R. 6617, the "Further Extension of Government Funding Act."
The special non-ministerial immigrant program will expire on March 11, 2022, according to the continuing resolution. After midnight on March 10, 2022, no SR visas will be issued and no final action will be taken on adjustment of status cases.
Prior to this date, all visas issued will have an expiration date of March 10, 2022, and all non-minister special immigrant applicants will be required to be admitted in the United States before midnight on March 10, 2022.
For the month of April, the SR category is marked as "Not available" in all countries.
If legislation to extend the category is passed, it will become "Current" immediately for all nations except El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, which have a final action date of May 1, 2017, and Mexico, which has a final action date of April 1, 2020.
3. AVAILABILITY OF "OTHER WORKERS" (EW) THIRD PREFERENCE EMPLOYMENT NUMBERS
To keep number usage within the maximum allowable under the FY 2022 annual cap, high number usage in the "Other Workers" (EW) Third Preferred Employment (TPE) category may require the formation of a worldwide final action date as early as June.
This situation will be closely monitored and changes will be made as necessary.