Important Note: U.S. travelers seeking visas to India will now need to obtain them through Travisa Outsourcing. Call (415) 644-0149 or visithttp://indiavisa.travisaoutsourcing.com / for more information.

This column carries priority dates and other transitional information as taken from the U.S. State Depart­ment’s Visa Bulletin. The information below is from the Visa Bulletin for June 2008.
In the tables below, the listing of a date for any class indicates that the class is oversubscribed. “Current” means that numbers are available for all qualified applicants. “Unavailable” means no numbers are available.

FAMILY PREFERENCEVISA DATES

Preference Dates for India

1st……………………………………………….March 15, 2002
2A…………………………………………………July 15, 2003
2B…………………………………………………August 1, 1999
3rd…………………………………………………June 8, 2000
4th…………………………………………………February 1, 1997

Note: For June, 2A numbers exempt from per-country limit are available to applicants from all countries with priority dates earlier than May 1, 2002. 2A numbers subject to per-country limits are available to applicants chargeable to all countries except Mexico with priority dates beginning May 1, 2002 and earlier than July 15, 2003.

EMPLOYMENT-BASEDVISA DATES

Preference Dates for India

1st ………………….. …………………………… Current
2nd ………………….. ……………………… …..April 1, 2004
3rd ………………….. …………………………… November 1, 2001
Other Workers ………………….. ……. …..January 1, 2003
4th ………………….. ……………………………Current
Certain Current Religious ………………………Workers
5th ………………….. …………………………… Current
Targeted Employment Areas………………… Current

The Department of State has a recorded message with visa availability information at (202) 663-1541, which is updated in the middle of each month.

Source: http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/bulletin/bulletin_4231.html

Vandana Kumar is a publishing executive with a 36-year track record in the industry. She leads the India Currents Foundation as President and CEO. As a new immigrant, she co-founded India Currents magazine...