What Is Visa Number
A visa number is an available allocation slot under the annual numerical limits for family-based and employment-based immigrant visas set by Congress. When a visa number becomes available to you, it means the Department of State has determined that a visa slot exists in your category during that fiscal year, allowing you to move forward with adjustment of status or consular processing.
How Visa Numbers Are Allocated
Congress caps the total number of immigrant visas issued annually at 675,000, with specific allocations across family-based (480,000) and employment-based (140,000) categories. Within those brackets, individual preference categories receive set percentages. For example, the EB-3 category (skilled workers and professionals) gets roughly 27.76% of the annual employment-based allocation.
The Visa Bulletin, published monthly by the Department of State, shows your place in line based on your priority date. Your priority date is the date your immigration petition was filed with USCIS (Form I-140 for employment cases, Form I-130 for family cases). When the Visa Bulletin shows that visa numbers are current for your category and country of birth, you can proceed with the next step. If visa numbers are not available, you are in "hold status," meaning you wait until future months when the Visa Bulletin advances past your priority date.
Visa Numbers and the Per-Country Limit
The Per-Country Limit restricts the number of family-based and employment-based immigrant visas issued to citizens of any single country to 7% of the total annual allocation. This creates bottlenecks for countries with large applicant populations, particularly India, Mexico, Philippines, and China. If you are from India seeking an EB-2 visa, your priority date may be current in the Visa Bulletin overall, but visa numbers for India-born nationals in your category may still be unavailable. You must wait until numbers become current specifically for your country.
When You Need a Visa Number
You need a visa number available to you at two critical points:
- Adjustment of Status: If you are in the US, USCIS will not approve your Form I-485 (Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status) until a visa number is available. A visa number must be available on your approval date, not just your application date.
- Consular Processing: If you are abroad, the US embassy or consulate in your home country will not schedule your immigrant visa interview until the Department of State confirms that a visa number is available for you.
Common Questions
- What happens if I am approved for my green card but no visa numbers are available? Your case enters administrative processing. USCIS may approve your Form I-485 conditioned on visa number availability, or they may hold your case pending approval. You cannot be issued a green card without a visa number, even with a favorable approval.
- Can my priority date move backward? In rare cases, yes. If visa numbers retrogress (move backward) in the Visa Bulletin due to unexpected demand, applicants with earlier priority dates are processed first. You may find your priority date is no longer current in the new month's bulletin.
- Do visa numbers reset each fiscal year? Yes. The federal fiscal year runs October 1 to September 30. In October, the visa bulletin typically advances significantly as a new allocation of visa numbers becomes available. This is why many applicants see movement in their cases in the final months of the fiscal year.