2012 Visa Cut-Off Dates

Each month, the Visa Office at the Department of State subdivides the annual preference and foreign state limitations specified by the INA into monthly allotments based on totals of documentarily qualified immigrant visa applicants reported at consular posts and CIS Offices, grouped by foreign state chargeability, preference category, and priority date. If there are sufficient numbers in a particular category to satisfy all reported documentarily qualified demand, the category is considered "Current."  Whenever the total of documentarily qualified applicants in a category exceeds the supply of numbers available for allotment for the particular month, the category is considered to be "oversubscribed" and a visa availability cut-off date is established.  The cut-off date is the priority date of the first documentarily qualified applicant who could not be accommodated for a visa number.