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The topic of who a green card holder or a U.S. Citizen may sponsor seems to be a very popular one. Thus far, it has drawn the most comments and questions to date. I wrote the original post in December 2007 to help folks identify which relatives they could sponsor.  That information has not changed, so make sure you read that post. What does change from time to time are the current wait times. Current wait times or “priority dates” are updated every month by the State Department in a document known as the Visa Bulletin. Times can advance, but they can also go backwards which can be very frustrating for those who are awaiting green cards and the family members who have sponsored them.  To illustrate how far (or in some cases how little) the times have advanced, I have outlined the preference categories and current average waiting periods are below.  Please note these are approximated.

Countries such as Mexico, India and the Philippines may have longer waiting times since the demand for immigrant visas are higher than in other countries.  In comparing the wait times noted from a little over a year ago in the last post, unfortunately, not much progress has been made. In many cases, although a year has passed, advances in the wait times have only moved forward by a couple of months.