Bilasa Bulletin; race to the finish

THE US State Department issues the monthly Visa Bulletin to inform immigrant visa applicants when they can start processing their immigrant visas at the National Visa Center (NVC) and subsequently be scheduled for interview at the specific consular posts.

For Philippine visa applicants, which means the US Embassy in Manila.

The visa dates (in both Chart A – “Final action dates for family-sponsored preference cases” and Chart B – “Dates for filing family-sponsored visa applications” are cut-off dates.

Normally, immigrant visa applicants whose priority dates are marked “C,” or current, on or earlier than that indicated in the specific preference category should expect an interview notice or appointment date.

For the rest that are not marked “C,” an applicant may estimate how long the estimated wait is by comparing their priority dates with the cut-off date in their specific visa category.

The fresh and refreshed dates on the monthly Visa Bulletin then were greeted with joyful anxiety at the very least, seeing the dates were moving forward. That was the rule before Covid-19. Rewind three years earlier. In 2019 visa interview dates moved almost two years for the F1 Family Preference category — over 21 unmarried sons and daughters of US citizens: from March 1, 2007 to Nov. 1, 2008).

In August of that year, the visa interview dates for the spouses and minor children of green card holders became current. That means once a visa petition is approved, immigrant visas are immediately available for the principal applicant (the person named in the petition) and his/ her derivative beneficiaries. These are the spouses and minor children, below 21 years of age.

Over the same period January to December 2019, the F2B category moved forward by one year and six months.

If it were a visa race, the fastest time was clocked by the adult sisters and brothers of US citizens (F4 category) moving forward more than three years and three months in 2019 (Sept. 1, 1995 to Dec. 15, 1998).

A close second was the F3 category (married sons and daughters of US citizens) — which zipped faster than the two other visa classes (F1 and F2B) zooming forward almost three years and two months (July 22, 1995 – Sept. 1, 1998) that year.

The adult sisters and brothers of US citizens (F4 category) was close behind the F3, also moving forward more than three years in 2019 (Sept. 1, 1995 to Dec. 15, 1998).

Employment-based (EB) categories were zippy performers in the visa racetrack as well.

The EB1 (priority workers, applicants with extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics through sustained national or international acclaim was chugging along one month per month (January to June) stalled the next month, was left behind by almost two years (retrogressed) in August, then took the fast lane moving at the rate of two to three months per month. For the period January-December, the EB1 moved nine months that year.

Except for a performance — one day per month — hiccup in August and September, members of the professions holding advanced degrees or persons of exceptional ability (EB2) ran consistently In the Fastlane, maintaining its “current” tag (translated as ready for processing and interview scheduling).

Skilled workers, professionals, and other workers (EB3 and OW) kept an average three-to-fourmonth movement each month (January-June), moved into the lead in July (current) before dropping back almost two years in August and keeping a one-year eight-month sprint till December.

The remaining EB categories (certain special immigrants including religious ministers and widows/widowers of US citizens) blew hot and cold (from current to retrogression and unavailable) in 2019.

The World Health Organization declared a pandemic on March 12, 2020.

For immigrant visa applicants in the family and employmentbased categories whose priority dates were current and had completed documentation at NVC, interview schedules took the regular, normal route.

By August 2020, the racetrack showed potholes and obstacles. Instead of a race, it was a slalom, lurching from one processing pothole to the next. Meanwhile the track lane of the F2A remained smooth with no speed limit imposed.

The other family-preference categories’ performance show the following: F1 – Sept. 1, 2011; F2B – April 1, 2011; F3 – Nov.15, 2001; and F4 – Sept. 1, 2001.

As Covid-19 cases rose worldwide, with the US leading the list of highest number of cases, the State Department prioritized the processing of employmentbased categories, especially those in the frontlines — nurses, therapists, medtechs and other health care workers. They were scheduled for interviews ahead of the family-based applicants.

The waiting line for visas got longer, became winding queues and finally, caused a huge backlog.

Essentially, the visa racetrack closed. Participants who had paid the race fees were inside the waiting booths, as hundreds of thousands continued to line up outside the race stadium.

By April 2021, there were 494,289 immigrant visa applicants in the backlog. In that month, only 18,979 visa race cars made it to the monthly finish line (US consulates); 475,310 were still left inside the waiting booths and outside the stadium.

Consequently, the monthly Visa Bulletin interview dates stopped racing, running or moving.

From September 2020 to December 2022, the racetrack was virtually becoming a free-for-all as consular

posts worldwide were allocated limited interview appointments, which the National Visa Center could then issue interview alerts or appointment notices.

Immigrant visa interview dates were waiting for the checkered flag to give the go-ahead signal. The visa interview dates (Philippine applicants for the next race laps) are shown in the accompanying table.

Only the F4 showed signs of life. The next month — September 2021, all the wheels were off.

For next month, the Visa Bulletin shows the dates still stuck in the September 2021 positions.

Kung baga sa isda, bilasa na. How many more immigrant visa applicants’ race cars are wasting fuel and time at the waiting booths and outside the visa stadium? 384,760.

For the immigrant visa applicant racers, leaving their cars in the tracks is a sign of default: failure to finish.

Staying in place, however, is like a spawning salmon racing upstream to the end, hoping their children could finally benefit from the long wait.

There are other important, essential finish lines: a petitioner of advanced age or with medical conditions may succumb to old age or death from natural causes. If the petitioner dies, the petition is finished.

Minor children may reach the end of their eligibility age. When they turn 21, they reach the end of being derivative beneficiaries. There are limited exemptions for aged-out derivative applicants under the Child Status Protection Act.

By and large, however, turning 21 is the painful finishing touch to the years of waiting for the monthly visa bulletin.

For them, the Bilasa Bulletin is not even worth the paper or email it is written on.