Visa Bulletin: Dates of Filing vs. Final Action Dates Differences
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Tanya Freedman, CEO of nursing agency Connetics USA: Question about Table A and Table B? This is a question that is very confusing for many nurses.
Can you explain a little bit about table A and table B? and as a nurse, which table would you look at?
Carl Shusterman, Immigration Attorney: So, it is confusing even for me. But one is the Final Action Dates (Table A), and that's what the visa bulletin has been for years. Your priority date, the date that you were petitioned by an employer is before the date and the final action dates. That means that as long as you've submitted all your paperwork, they'll set up an interview for you at the US Embassy in Manila, and you can get your green card.
The other table, the Filing Dates. That really only applies to people in the United States if you're in the US and not that many Filipino nurses are here in the US because there's no visa. I mean, it's ridiculous, but there's no temporary visa for nurses to come in except and go back to my wife, her nieces have gone to Canada because it was a long way to get into the US. So once you become a Canadian citizen, you can get a nurse and get something called the TN Visa Trade NAFTA visa. So, if the nurse is in the United States, then every month the immigration service puts out something on their Web page and will they use the final action dates for when you can file your application for a green card, or will they use the filing dates, which are it kind of gives you a head start. So, you can move in every month. Immigration does something a little different, but unless you're in the US, you don't really have to worry about the filing date. Okay.
Well, that gives great clarification.