Definitions for "Priority Date"
The date on which you first entered the immigration application process. Since only a limited number of green cards are issued each year, you may have to wait until a visa becomes available. Your Priority Date marks your place in the waiting line, with others who filed similar petitions. Each month the U.S. Department of State makes green cards available to all those who applied on or before a certain priority date. You can get a green card only when your date comes up on the DOS list.
A claim that an application should be given the filing date of an earlier application provided that this earlier application was filed in the previous 12 months (for patents) or 6 months (for designs and trademarks) by the same applicant.(FR:Date de priorité, IT:Data di priorità )
Date assigned to aliens for processing of green card. The INS will not process an immigrant petition until the date is current. Click here for an explanation on how the priority date is determined.
a person's place in line for becoming a permanent resident of the United States