help pleaseeeeee

[reena23 0]

F-4 petition for my sister living in india was aaproved in august 1999 and the priority date is march . now my question is -

1. what the priority date means?

2. are visa processing paper starts before or after the priority date as shown in the visa bulletin?

please help me.

thanks in anticipation

[aaron2020 11,651]

F-4 petition for my sister living in india was aaproved in august 1999 and the priority date is march . now my question is -

1. what the priority date means?

2. are visa processing paper starts before or after the priority date as shown in the visa bulletin?

please help me.

thanks in anticipation

The Priority Date (PD) is the date that USCIS (formerly INS) received the I-130 petition. It is considered that date that the beneficiary gets in line for an immigration visa. Once an I-130 is approved (meaning that the petitioner and beneficiary have a relationship that qualifies for filing for an immigration visa - it does not guarantee a visa). The approved I-130 is then sent to the National Visa Center (NVC) to await for the PD to become current (meaning that there are many people in line for visas and the beneficiaries has to wait until visas are available to them). Once a PD is about to become current, NVC will contact the petitioner and the beneficiary and request further paperwork and payments. This contact is usually about a 2-4 months from the PD becoming current. At this point, the local consulate will determine if the beneficiary meets all requirements making him/her eligible for a visa.

The current PD for F4 from India is April 15, 1998. My guess if your sister's PD is March 1999 is that your sister will have to wait at least another 8-12 months before you hear anything from USCIS.