A. STATUTORY
NUMBERS
1. This bulletin summarizes
the availability of immigrant numbers during April. 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 March 9th 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: MEXICO, INDIA
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.)
The Department of State
has available a recorded message with visa availability information which
can be heard at (202) 663-1541. This recording will be updated in the middle
of each month with information on cut-off dates for the following month.
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-2004 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 April,
immigrant numbers in the DV category are available to qualified DV-2004 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:
All DV
Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed Separately
Region
AFRICA: AF 24,800
Except: Ethiopia 24,100; Nigeria 16,475
ASIA: AS 10,700 Except: Bangladesh 7,850
EUROPE: EU 19,000
NORTH AMERICA (BAHAMAS): 13
OCEANIA: OC 750
SOUTH AMERICA, and the CARIBBEAN: 1,450
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-2004 program ends as of September
30, 2004. DV visas may not be issued to DV-2004 applicants after that date.
Similarly, spouses and children accompanying or following to join DV-2004
principals are only entitled to derivative DV status until September 30, 2004.
DV visa availability through the very end of FY-2004 cannot be taken for granted.
Numbers could be exhausted prior to September 30. Once all numbers provided
by law for the DV-2004 program have been used, no further issuances will be
possible.
C. ADVANCE NOTIFICATION
OF THE DIVERSITY (DV) IMMIGRANT CATEGORY RANK CUT-OFFS WHICH WILL APPLY IN
MARCH
For May, immigrant
numbers in the DV category are available to qualified DV-2004 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:
All DV Chargeability
Areas Except Those Listed Separately
Region
AFRICA:
AF 26,200 Except: Nigeria 16,500
ASIA: AS 11,500
EUROPE: EU 20,000
NORTH AMERICA (BAHAMAS): 15
OCEANIA: OC 825
SOUTH AMERICA, and the CARIBBEAN: SA 1,500
Department of State Publication
9514
CA/VO: February 6, 2004
