Visa issuance to Filipinos, here and in US

OK, technically, Filipinos in the United States are not given visas but rather admitted as lawful permanent residents when they apply for adjustment of status instead of going through consular processing. In both cases, they are counted as visa recipients in the State Department's visa statistics table. The green card journey cruises along a visa expressway that stretches from the Manila Bay across the Pacific Ocean into tollgates assigned to each visa category at US Port of entries. Yearly quota: Always more applicants than visas available US laws limit the number of visas to be issued to immigrant visa applicants seeking status as lawful permanent residents — or green card holders: 226,000 for family-sponsored petitions and 140,000 for professionals, skilled and other workers. There are few EB1 visas granted to Filipinos who have 'extraordinary ability in the sciences, art, education, business or athletics, outstanding professor or researcher, as well as multinational manager or executives meeting specific criteria' as L-1 intracompany transferees. Fact: Only four in the EB1 category were issued in February 2026, zero for E5 immigrant investors. That's understandable, especially in the field of business or athletics. Can you imagine a Razon, Sy, Ang, Co, Tan or Zobel scion throwing a hat into the migration ring? Or why should the extraordinary boxer/senator Manny Pacquiao seek a green card in the US when he can also use his popularity to enter politics? No way. Why be a small fish in a big ocean when you can be — or already are — a whale in the Philippine pond? For the rest of the above average or common Pinoys, the road to green card haven is mainly through the family-sponsored categories. The per-country allocation (part of the 226,000 total) is 25,620, give or take a few hundred depending on how many visa applicants are affected by the 3Ds: default, disenfranchisement or death. Immigrant visa applicants who fail to provide evidence of eligibility lose by default. Other applicants who change civil status before visa issuance are disenfranchised when they get married before a petitioner becomes a US citizen or tie the knot before turning 21. Then there are visa applicants who lose their visa slots when the petitioner or principal applicant dies. The principal applicant is the person named in the petition, for example, the head of a household with three family members (derivative beneficiaries) — the spouse and two minor children. Dependents who would have derived the benefits of applying for the immigrant visa in pursuit of permanent residency see the green card dream turn grim when the principal applicant dies — even if the petitioner is still alive. Immigrant visa waiting list Three years ago, there were already close to 4 million applicants waiting for their visa interviews. The State Department's Nov. 1, 2023, report shows 3.8 million applicants in the family-sponsored preference categories (FSPCs) and 260,660 in the employment-based (EB) class. With the US Citizenship and Immigration Services receiving 3,200 petitions by US citizens (USCs) and green card holders (LPRs) every day, the 4 million total in 2023 would have added another 2.3 million applicants along the visa expressway, waiting for their specific tollgates to open for the next car in line to pass. Locally, there are only 288,294 applicants from the Philippines in the FSPCs: – First preference (FirstPref) — over 21, unmarried children of USCs– 21,311. – F2A — spouses, minor children of LPRs – 12,749. – F2B — over 21 unmarried children of LPRs – 40,315. – F3 — married sons and daughters of USCs – 94,236. – F4 — adult siblings of USCs – 83,542. This is where the applicants queued up in the Philippine visa expressway merge with other applicants in the expressways of over 195 countries. While each of the 195 nations have their own per-country immigrant visa (IV) allocation for the preference categories, these applicants are also competing for the worldwide quota: 480,000 family-sponsored, 140,000 employment-based and 55,000 diversity visas totals set under the Immigration Act of 1990. The 480,000 is a moving target. This total could change based on the following factors: – How many persons are admitted as special immigrants or refugees, which must also be considered. – The number of any unused employment-based visas from the prior fiscal year that can be added to the current year as well as. – How many visas would the spouses, minor children and parents of US citizens use from the 480,000 total before only 226,000 visas remain for allocation in the family preference categories. – The 2-percent limit for visas to be issued to applicants from dependent areas. Theoretically, getting ahead of the others for an immigrant visa interview (and the subsequent receipt of the green card) is based on priority dates of those who overcome the factors previously cited. Priority dates of a visa petition are based on what day, hour and minute the complete petition and payment was received at the USCIS regardless of country origin. The USCIS receives — and timestamps — more than 3,200 visa petitions daily: 90 percent plus are approved and added to the millions already lined up at the NVC corridors, waiting for their turn to start visa processing. Hence this year for example, the 21,311 FirstPref applicants from the Philippines will compete for the 23,400 set for FirstPref applicants worldwide, including those from Mexico (85,950), Dominican Republic (22,974), Haiti (13,702), Jamaica (12,656), El Salvador (9,937), Cuba (7,037), Colombia (5,086), Honduras (4,969), Nigeria (4.555) and all 73,207 from the rest of the visa-issuing countries. Visa applicants with the earliest priority dates are competing for 675,000 visas, subject to the actual numbers that come up at the end of each fiscal year based on the mandates explained above — which would include the number of visas that were not used and those returned to reallocation for the next fiscal year. Finally, the total fluctuates yearly depending on how many numbers are not used either due to default, disenfranchisement or death. The historical 25,620 per-country allocation fluctuates. This year, the State Department puts the 7 percent total at 28,862 and 2 percent total at 8,247. And it is not 'first come, first served.' The lucky ones unaffected by the 3Ds, whose priority dates become current, must remain eligible for the visa category: the petitioner must still be alive, and the principal applicant has completed processing with the National Visa Center (NVC) i.e., fees paid, documents submitted and considered documentarily qualified (DQ) ready for the immigrant visa interview in accordance with existing laws. How many are waiting for their immigrant visa interviews at the US Embassy? The embassy does not have the figures or has not released the data in compliance with executive orders from the White House occupant. Implementation of visa and immigration laws is now on the back burner as the current administration prioritizes arrests, detention and deportation, setting aside the hundreds of thousands of DQ visa applicants, creating a backlog that has grown to 422,954 (post-pandemic) and still 326,415 as of March 2024, according to State Department reports cited by the Catholic Legal Immigration Network Inc. This focus on detention, detention and deportation is joined by another 'D' to the visa issuance equation: Delays. D end, for now.