Family vs. Employment Categories

by | Dec 27, 2025

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Family vs. Employment Categories

Family vs. Employment Categories

Take a moment to review both the Family-Based and Employment-Based categories below. Each path has its own visa “preference” groups and rules — knowing where you fit helps you understand your wait time and what section of the Visa Bulletin applies to you.

👨‍👩‍👧 Family-Based

  • Immediate Relatives (no wait time!) – spouse, unmarried child <21, or parent of a U.S. citizen
  • F1 – Unmarried sons/daughters of U.S. citizens
  • F2A – Spouses & children of LPRs
  • F2B – Unmarried sons/daughters (21+) of LPRs
  • F3 – Married sons/daughters of U.S. citizens
  • F4 – Siblings of U.S. citizens

💼 Employment-Based

  • EB-1 – Priority Workers (Extraordinary ability, Professors/Researchers, Executives/Managers)
  • EB-2 – Advanced degree professionals or exceptional ability
  • EB-3 – Skilled workers, professionals, other workers
  • EB-4 – Special Immigrants (religious workers, certain employees, etc.)
  • EB-5 – Investors creating U.S. jobs

👪 Family vs. 💼 Employment Categories

On your USCIS receipt or approval notice, look at the “Section” area. It will show a description (like “Parent of U.S. Citizen (201(b) INA)” or “Skilled Worker (203(b)(3) INA)”). You’ll need to match that description to the correct Visa Bulletin category.

What Your Notice Says Visa Bulletin Category Notes
“Parent of U.S. Citizen (201(b) INA)” Immediate Relative (No backlog) Always current – no Visa Bulletin wait
“Unmarried Son/Daughter of U.S. Citizen (203(a)(1) INA)” F1 Family-based preference category
“Skilled Worker (203(b)(3) INA)” EB-3 Employment-based preference category
“Member of Professions w/ Advanced Degree (203(b)(2) INA)” EB-2 Employment-based preference category
👉 Click a row above to learn how your receipt wording matches the Visa Bulletin.

Example: I-130 Approval Notice (Family Case)

I-130 approval notice example

Example: I-140 Approval Notice (Employment Case)

I-140 approval notice example

Summary

📝 How to Identify Your Visa Bulletin Category

  1. Find the “Section” area on your USCIS I-130 or I-140 notice.
  2. Read the description + INA code (e.g., “203(b)(3) INA – Skilled Worker”).
  3. Match it to the Visa Bulletin category:
    • 201(b) INA → Immediate Relative (always current)
    • 203(a) INA → Family Preference (F1, F2A, F2B, F3, F4)
    • 203(b) INA → Employment Preference (EB-1 through EB-5)

❓ Quick Quiz

Your I-140 notice says: “203(b)(2) INA – Member of Professions Holding Advanced Degrees.” Which Visa Bulletin category does this correspond to?




📥 Downloadable Reference

Keep a handy one-page chart that maps INA Sections → Visa Bulletin Categories.

Download PDF
To our Perspective clients: As a woman and family-owned business, we truly take pride and an honest approach to providing valuable, efficient, and quality services to our community. You have come to the right place! Over the last few years our team has assisted hundreds of families from ten different states and 50 different countries fulfill their legal needs. The PFTC team takes their combined 25 years of experience in the legal field by understanding our client's objectives, and by meeting their expectations to the highest standards. Our clients are our number one priority and our success record and reputation prove that. Our Bilingual team is equipped to work with an array of people from the general public to law firms. Whether you are an individual, a family, a solo practitioner, a boutique, a large law firm, or an organization we got you covered. Paralegals FTC, model is simple, we maintain a professional, team-driven, ethical, and client-centered practice to ensure customer satisfaction. We are enthusiastic every day to use our platform as leaders in the community to empower and impact the underserved, youth, elderly, and families that come from all walks of life. Our continuity and readiness plans are in action to continue fostering our growing community. We encourage you to connect with us and thank you in advance.
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Michel joined PFTC as an intern in 2018.  In 2022, she joined us as a part-time Legal Assistant and Biometric Technician.
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Vanessa joined the team in 2019 as our Biometric Technician and Legal Secretary. She is responsible for performing quality biometrics processing to include capturing electronic fingerprints, photographs, on a Federal level.  She also handles scheduling and managing the firms calendar.
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Shakira Nova joined our firm in 2022 as our Marketing Manager. She currently holds a Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice from the University at Albany. In the past several years, she has worked for Nonprofit organizations in the Bronx where she advocated for clients in criminal court to be placed in alternative to incarceration programming. She truly enjoys making an impact within her own community by educating and providing resources to those around her. Within the last year, Shakira has worked towards combining her passion for marketing and legal services.
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  • New York University, Paralegal Certification, (2014)
Elaine has 12 years of paralegal experience in asbestos claims and personal injury accident cases.  She brings her expertise in pleadings, trial preparation, motion practice and a variety of pre-litigation legal document preparation. In 2018, she helped founded Paralegals for the Community. She currently works as our head freelance paralegal and also provides mobile services in areas of Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Credentials & Certifications:
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  • TCI College, Paralegal Certification, (2012)
  • Certified Tax Preparer in New York State and New Jersey (2012)
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Rachel brings more than 10 years of experience as a Paralegal.  She worked at an Immigration firm in Danbury, Connecticut for 6 years and helped hundreds of individuals/families complete and successfully submit various petitions to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Rachel oversees our Family, Immigration and Tax Department. She also has extensive knowledge on other legal procedures and practices. Her management experience coupled with her legal academia make her role in Paralegals for the Community that much more lucrative.  
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  • Berkeley College, Paralegal Certification, (2006)
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  • CUNY-Hunter College, Masters of Science in School Counseling (2017)
  • Notary Public, State of New York -Bronx County- Commissioned since 2013
Swannie brings 18 years of Paralegal experience to the team. From having worked at the United States Attorney’s Office, she assisted senior agents in enforcing the collection of criminal and civil debts owed to the United States to Binder & Binder, P.C., helping individuals get their SSI and SSD benefits granted by writing persuasive briefs. Swannie also worked at places like Bronx Housing Court assisting families with housing applications, and provided housing search, and rent stabilization support to homeless and at-risk families with children. From 6 years, she worked at a Personal Injury firm, she worked extensively in a wide variety of branches within personal injury such as asbestos litigation, pre-litigation motor vehicle and lead paint poisoning.  Swannie currently is the head of Operations, and runs the Bankruptcy and Estate Planning Departments in PFTC.

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