A. STATUTORY NUMBERS
1. This bulletin summarizes
the availability of immigrant numbers during July. 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 June 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: 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.)
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.
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 July, 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:
Region |
All
DV Chargeability
Areas Except Those
Region Listed Separately |
|
|
| AFRICA
| AF |
32,500 |
Except:
Ethiopia 29,850
Ghana 17,500
Nigeria 17,250 |
|
ASIA
|
AS |
13,400
|
|
|
EUROPE
|
EU |
23,350 |
Except: Ukraine 11,400 |
|
NORTH AMERICA (BAHAMAS)
|
NA |
15
|
|
|
OCEANIA
|
OC |
1,000 |
|
|
SOUTH
AMERICA,
and the CARIBBEAN
|
SA |
1,925 |
|
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
AUGUST
For August, 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:
Region |
All
DV Chargeability
Areas Except Those
Region Listed Separately |
|
|
| AFRICA
| AF |
34,300 |
Except:
Ethiopia 30,500
Ghana 22,000
Nigeria 17,900 |
|
ASIA
|
AS |
13,600
|
|
|
EUROPE
|
EU |
25,900
|
Except: Ukraine 11,400 |
|
NORTH AMERICA (BAHAMAS)
|
NA |
15
|
|
|
OCEANIA
|
OC |
CURRENT |
|
|
SOUTH
AMERICA,
and the CARIBBEAN
|
SA |
2,175 |
|
D. VISA AVAILABILITY
IN THE COMING MONTHS
As mentioned in the June
Visa Bulletin, cut-off dates have advanced very quickly during past two years,
and it appears that CIS had begun to address their backlog of adjustment of
status cases. As a result there has been a significant increase in demand
for numbers in many categories. As the end of the fiscal year approaches,
it may be necessary to retrogress some cut-off dates in August or September
to keep visa issuances within the annual numerical limits set by law. It is
particularly possible that there could be retrogressions in some Mexico and
Philippines cut-off dates.
Department of State Publication
9514
CA/VO:June 8, 2004
