Priority Date

Angelika Before we could even begin the third step, our so-called "Priority Date" had to be current. It's best to think of it like a place in the Green Card queue, similar to taking a number in some grocery store or government office. Since most Green Cards in the various categories are subject to an annual quota, bottlenecks occur when the quota for the respective year is reached - the queue keeps growing. The number of Green Cards issued by the immigration authorities each year is then evenly distributed among the individual countries. For example, people from India usually wait longer because the U.S. receives many applications from Indian citizens - the number of Green Cards available to them each year are logically gone more quickly. If you come from Germany, you are among the lucky ones who can essentially jump right to the counter without waiting, as there are not as many Germans applying for Green Cards.