What does the green card mean?

The green card "priority date" exists because there are more green card applications than green card places. Green card applicants must wait in line. Applicants from countries with large immigrant populations have to wait in line for a relatively long time. The Philippines, Mexico, India and Chinese mainland are four major immigrant countries, and it takes a long time for their residents to apply for a green card in the United States, but the queuing time in these four countries is different. For example, American citizens born in Chinese mainland applying for their unmarried children to come to the United States are now ranked as 1 March 9991,while American citizens born in the Philippines applying for their unmarried children to come to the United States are now ranked as1March 22 988. This means that the former will have to wait more than two years to immigrate to the United States, while the latter may have to wait 13 years!

How do I know my green card "timetable"? If it is a relative's application for immigration, it can be found on the receipt issued by the Immigration Bureau. If it is a professional immigration application, it can be found on the receipt issued by the Ministry of Labor or the Immigration Bureau. This date is usually the date when the Immigration Bureau or the Labor Department receives your application. If the whole application is returned or rejected, there will be a new queuing date after resubmitting the application. If the immigration visa schedule of the State Council in the United States shows that the relative immigrants (or professional immigrants) have been scheduled to "a certain day of the month", then your green card "schedule" coincides with or has passed "a certain day of the month", which means that you or your relatives can apply for a visa or change their immigration status. Note, however, that if your green card is "booked" very close to "a certain year, a certain month and a certain day", for example, it is still three months short, it does not mean that you have to wait for three months. The "scheduling" often changes, sometimes by leaps and bounds, so that applicants can apply for visas or change their immigration status immediately.

The Schedule may also be lost. The Schedule can also be kept. The most technical question is whether and how the applicant can maintain the original "scheduling" when changing the application category. For example, an American citizen born in Chinese mainland applies for his unmarried children to come to the United States (the first priority category), and these children will get married after waiting for two years. The application category has suddenly dropped from the first priority category (now scheduled as 65438+March 1 0999) to the third priority category (now scheduled as 65438+May 8, 0996), so the children have to wait a few more years. Another example is professional immigration. Mr. A immigrated through labor paper, but was laid off or his employer closed down. Mr. A has to find another employer and apply for another job, but Mr. A may keep the original "timetable". You should ask a professional lawyer for help with similar problems.