Certain categories, such as the family fourth preference, are heavily oversubscribed. The priority date, in the case of a relative immigrant visa petition, is the date the petition was filed. In the case of an employer-sponsored petition, the priority date is the date the labor certification was filed with the Department of Labor. The Visa Bulletin is available under the Visa Services home page. The document number is 1038.
Specific information is available from the United States consulate processing the case.
There may also be fees to obtain required documents, for certifying or notarizing documents, and for the medical examination. The cost of the immigrant visa itself remains constant, but other fees vary from post to post. The applicant will be informed of fees by the processing post. The fees are payable in U.S. and equivalent local currency. The consul may issue an immigrant visa with a maximum validity of six months.