A. STATUTORY NUMBERS
1.This bulletin summarizes the availability of
immigrant numbers during March. Consular officers are required to report to the Department of
State documentarily qualified applicants for numerically limited visas; the Bureau of Citizenship
and Immigration Services in the Department of Homeland Security reports applicants for adjustment
of status. Allocations were made, to the extent possible under the numerical limitations, for the
demand received by May 8th in the chronological order of the reported priority dates. If the
demand could not be satisfied within the statutory or regulatory limits, the category or foreign
state in which demand was excessive was deemed oversubscribed. The cut-off date for an oversubscribed
category is the priority date of the first applicant who could not be reached within the numerical
limits. Only applicants who have a priority date earlier than the cut-off date may be allotted a
number. Immediately that it becomes necessary during the monthly allocation process to retrogress
a cut-off date, supplemental requests for numbers will be honored only if the priority date falls
within the new cut-off date.
2.Section 201 of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) sets an annual minimum family-sponsored
preference limit of 226,000. The worldwide level for annual employment-based
preference immigrants is at least 140,000. Section 202 prescribes that the
per-country limit for preference immigrants is set at 7% of the total annual
family-sponsored and employment-based preference limits, i.e., 25,620.
The dependent area limit is set at 2%, or 7,320.
3. Section 203 of the
INA prescribes preference classes for allotment of immigrant visas as follows:
FAMILY-SPONSORED
PREFERENCES
First: Unmarried Sons and Daughters of Citizens: 23,400 plus any numbers not required
for fourth preference.
Second: Spouses and Children, and Unmarried Sons and Daughters of Permanent
Residents:
114,200, plus the number (if any) by which the worldwide family preference
level exceeds 226,000, and any unused first preference numbers:
A. Spouses and Children:
77% of the overall second preference limitation, of which 75% are exempt
from the per-country limit;
B. Unmarried Sons and
Daughters (21 years of age or older): 23% of the overall second preference
limitation.
Third: Married Sons and Daughters of Citizens: 23,400, plus any numbers not required
by first and second preferences.
Fourth: Brothers and Sisters of Adult Citizens: 65,000, plus any numbers not required
by first three preferences.
EMPLOYMENT-BASED
PREFERENCES
First: Priority Workers: 28.6% of the worldwide employment-based preference level,
plus any numbers not required for fourth and fifth preferences.
Second: Members of the Professions Holding Advanced Degrees or Persons of Exceptional
Ability: 28.6% of the worldwide employment-based preference level, plus any
numbers not required by first preference.
Third: Skilled Workers, Professionals, and Other Workers: 28.6% of the worldwide
level, plus any numbers not required by first and second preferences, not
more than 10,000 of which to "Other Workers".
Fourth: Certain Special Immigrants: 7.1% of the worldwide level.
Fifth: Employment Creation: 7.1% of the worldwide level, not less than 3,000 of which
reserved for investors in a targeted rural or high-unemployment area, and
3,000 set aside for investors in regional centers by Sec. 610 of P.L. 102-395.
4. INA Section 203(e) provides that
family-sponsored and employment-based preference visas be issued to eligible immigrants
in the order in which a petition in behalf of each has been filed. Section 203(d) provides
that spouses and children of preference immigrants are entitled to the same status, and the
same order of consideration, if accompanying or following to join the principal. The visa
prorating provisions of Section 202(e) apply to allocations for a foreign state or dependent
area when visa demand exceeds the per-country limit. These provisions apply at present to
the following oversubscribed chargeability areas: CHINA-mainland born, INDIA, MEXICO, and
PHILIPPINES.
5. On the chart below,
the listing of a date for any class indicates that the class is oversubscribed
(see paragraph 1); "C" means current, i.e., numbers are available
for all qualified applicants; and "U" means unavailable, i.e., no
numbers are available. (NOTE: Numbers are available only for applicants whose
priority date is earlier than the cut-off date listed below.)
CH = China (mainland born), IN = India, ME = Mexico, PH = Phillipines
The Department of State
has available a recorded message with visa availability information which can
be heard at: (area code 202) 663-1541. This recording will be updated in the
middle of each month with information on cut-off dates for the following month.
Employtment Third Preference Other Workers Category: Section 203(e) of the
NACARA, as amended by Section 1(e) of Pub. L. 105-139, provides that once the Employment Third Preference Other Worker
(EW) cut-off date has reached the priority date of the latest EW petition approved prior to November 19, 1997, the 10,000
EW numbers available for a fiscal year are to be reduced by up to 5,000 annually beginning in the following fiscal year.
This reduction is to be made for as long as necessary to offset adjustments under the NACARA program. Since the EW
cut-off date reached November 19, 1997 during Fiscal Year 2001, the reduction in the EW annual limit to 5,000 began
in Fiscal Year 2002.
B. DIVERSITY
IMMIGRANT (DV) CATEGORY
Section 203(c) of the Immigration
and Nationality Act provides a maximum of up to 55,000 immigrant visas each fiscal
year to permit immigration opportunities for persons from countries other than the
principal sources of current immigration to the United States. The Nicaraguan and
Central American Relief Act (NACARA) passed by Congress in November 1997 stipulates
that beginning with DV-99, and for as long as necessary, up to 5,000 of the 55,000
annually-allocated diversity visas will be made available for use under the NACARA
program. This reduction has resulted in the DV-2008 annual limit being reduced to
50,000. DV visas are divided among six geographic regions. No one country can receive
more than seven percent of the available diversity visas in any one year.
For June, immigrant numbers
in the DV category are available to qualified DV-2008 applicants chargeable to all
regions/eligible countries as follows. When an allocation cut-off number is shown,
visas are available only for applicants with DV regional lottery rank numbers BELOW
the specified allocation cut-off number:
Region |
All DV Chargeability Aress Except Those Region Listed Separately |
|
|
| AFRICA |
32,000 |
|
Except:
Ethiopia 17,750
Egypt: 22,000
Nigeria 13,000 |
| ASIA |
11,900 |
|
|
| EUROPE |
26,000 |
|
|
NORTH AMERICA
( BAHAMAS ) |
12 |
|
|
| OCEANIA |
1,500 |
|
|
SOUTH AMERICA,
and the CARIBBEAN |
1,700 |
|
|
Entitlement
to immigrant status in the DV category lasts only through the end
of the fiscal (visa) year for which the applicant is selected in
the lottery. The year of entitlement for all applicants registered
for the DV-2008 program ends as of September 30, 2008. DV visas may
not be issued to DV-2008 applicants after that date. Similarly,
spouses and children accompanying or following to join DV-2008
principals are only entitled to derivative DV status until
September 30, 2008. DV visa availability through the very end
of FY-2008 cannot be taken for granted. Numbers could be exhausted prior to September 30.
C.ADVANCE NOTIFICATION OF THE DIVERSITY (DV) IMMIGRANT CATEGORY RANK CUT-OFFS WHICH WILL APPLY IN NOVEMBER
For July, immigrant numbers in the DV category
are available to qualified DV-2008 applicants chargeable
to all regions/eligible countries as follows. When an allocation
cut-off number is shown, visas are available only for applicants with DV
regional lottery rank numbers BELOW the specified allocation cut-off number:
Region |
All DV Chargeability Aress Except Those Region Listed Separately |
|
| AFRICA |
38,050 |
Except:
Nigeria 14,650
Egypt: 25,000
Ethiopia 19,800 |
| ASIA |
13,400 |
Except:
|
| EUROPE |
29,000 |
Except:
|
NORTH AMERICA
( BAHAMAS ) |
13 |
|
| OCEANIA |
1,650 |
|
SOUTH AMERICA,
and the CARIBBEAN |
Current |
|
D.CHINA-MAINLAND BORN AND INDIA
EMPLOYMENT SECOND PREFERENCE CUT-OFF DATES RETROGRESS FOR DECEMBER
It has been necessary to once again retrogress the India Employment Second preference
cut-off date. This is a direct result of continued heavy applicant demand for numbers by
CIS for adjustment of status cases despite the retrogression which occurred for December.
It is likely that the annual limit for this category will be reached within the next
few months, at which time the category would become “unavailable” for the remainder of
fiscal year 2008.
Department of State Publication 9514
CA/VO: October 5, 2007
