VISA BULLETIN
Number 6
Volume VIII
Washington, D.C.
IMMIGRANT NUMBERS FOR JUNE 1999
A. STATUTORY NUMBERS
1. This bulletin summarizes the availability of immigrant numbers during June. Consular officers are required to report to the Department of State documentarily qualified applicants for numerically limited visas; the Immigration and Naturalization Service reports applicants for adjustment of status. Allocations were made, to the extent possible under the numerical limitations, for the demand received by May 10th 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.)
PREFERENCES
All Charge-
ability Areas CHINA-
Except Those mainland
Listed born INDIA MEXICO PHILIPPINES
Family
1st 15FEB98 15FEB98 15FEB98 08AUG93 22AUG87
2A* 22DEC94 22DEC94 22DEC94 22NOV93 22DEC94
2B 08JUL92 08JUL92 08JUL92 22JUL91 08JUL92
3rd 01AUG95 01AUG95 01AUG95 08NOV90 01JUL87
4th 22JUL88 22JUL88 15AUG86 01APR88 15JAN79
*NOTE: For June, 2A numbers EXEMPT from per-country limit are available to applicants from all countries with priority dates earlier than 22NOV93. 2A numbers SUBJECT to per-country limit are available to applicants chargeable to all countries EXCEPT MEXICO with priority dates beginning 22NOV93 and earlier than 22DEC94. (All 2A numbers provided for MEXICO are exempt from the per-country limit; there are no 2A numbers for MEXICO subject to per-country limit.)
All Charge-
ability Areas CHINA-
Except Those mainland
Listed born INDIA MEXICO PHILIPPINES
Employment-
Based
1st C 01JUL98 C C C
2nd C 22MAY97 08JAN98 C C
3rd C 15MAY95 15MAY96 C C
Other 01NOV92 01NOV92 01NOV92 01NOV92 01NOV92
Workers
4th C C C C C
Certain C C C C C
Religious
Workers
5th C C C C C
Targeted Employ- C C C C C
ment Areas/
Regional Centers
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 50,000 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. DV visas are divided among six geographic regions. Not more than 3,500 visas (7% of the 50,000 visa limit) may be provided to immigrants from any one country.
For June, immigrant numbers in the DV category are available to qualified DV-99 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 Charge-
ability Areas
Except Those
Region Listed Separately
AFRICA AF 33,500
ASIA AS 10,000
EUROPE EU 20,460 EXCEPT: ALBANIA EU 16,290
NORTH AMERICA NA 24
(BAHAMAS)
OCEANIA OC 950
SOUTH AMERICA, SA 2,600
CENTRAL AMERICA,
and the CARIBBEAN
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-99 program ends as of September 30, 1999. DV visas may not be issued to DV-99 applicants after that date. Similarly, spouses and children accompanying or following to join DV-99 principals are only entitled to derivative DV status until September 30, 1999. DV visa availability through the very end of FY-1999 cannot be taken for granted. Numbers could be exhausted prior to September 30. Once all numbers provided by law for the DV-99 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 JULY AND AUGUST
For July, immigrant numbers in the DV category are available to qualified DV-99 applicants chargeable to all regions/eligible countries as follows:
All DV Charge-
ability Areas
Except Those
Region Listed Separately
AFRICA AF 38,180
ASIA AS 11,970
EUROPE EU 22,340 EXCEPT: ALBANIA EU 18,900
NORTH AMERICA NA 24
(BAHAMAS)
OCEANIA OC 1,012
SOUTH AMERICA, SA 2,850
CENTRAL AMERICA,
and the CARIBBEAN
For August, immigrant numbers in the DV category are available to qualified DV-99 applicants chargeable to all regions/eligible countries as follows:
All DV Charge-
ability Areas
Except Those
Region Listed Separately
AFRICA AF Current
ASIA AS Current
EUROPE EU 25,100
NORTH AMERICA NA 24
(BAHAMAS)
OCEANIA OC Current
SOUTH AMERICA, SA 3,071
CENTRAL AMERICA,
and the CARIBBEAN
D. FY-2000 DIVERSITY IMMIGRANT VISA (DV-2000) LOTTERY RESULTS
The National Visa Center at Portsmouth, New Hampshire has registered and notified the winners of the DV-2000 diversity lottery. The diversity lottery was conducted under the terms of Section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act and makes available *50,000 permanent resident visas annually to persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. Approximately 110,000 applicants have been registered and notified and may now make an application for an immigrant visa. Since it is likely that some of the first *50,000 persons registered will not pursue their cases to visa issuance, this larger figure should insure that all DV-2000 numbers will be used during fiscal year 2000 (October 1, 1999 until September 30, 2000).
Applicants registered for the DV-2000 program were selected at random from the more than 8 million qualified entries received during the one-month application period which ran from noon on October 1, 1998 through noon on October 31, 1998. Over 2.5 million applications received inside and outside of the mail-in period were disqualified for failing to properly follow directions.
The visas have been apportioned among six geographic regions with a maximum of 3,500 visas available to persons born in any single country. During the visa interview, principal applicants must provide proof of a high school education or its equivalent, or show two years of work experience within the past five years in an occupation that requires at least two years of training or experience.
Those selected will need to act on their immigrant visa applications quickly. Applicants should follow the instructions in their notification letter and must fully complete the information requested. Registrants living legally in the United States who wish to apply for adjustment of their status must contact the Immigration and Naturalization Service for information on the requirements and procedures. Once the total *50,000 visa numbers have been used, the program for fiscal year 2000 will end. Selected applicants who do not receive visas by September 30, 2000 will derive no further benefit from their DV-2000 registration. Similarly, spouses and children accompanying or following to join DV-2000 principal applicants are only entitled to derivative DV status until September 30, 2000.
Only participants in the DV-2000 program who were selected for further processing have been notified. Those who have not received notification were not selected and may wish to try for next year's DV-2001 lottery. The dates for the mail-in period for the DV-2001 lottery are scheduled from noon on October 4, 1999 until noon on November 3, 1999. Instructions on entering the DV-2001 program will be widely publicized beginning on August 2, 1999.
*The Nicaraguan and Central American Relief Act (NCARA) passed by Congress in November 1997 stipulated that beginning with DV-99, and for as long as necessary, 5,000 of the 55,000 annually-allocated diversity visas were made available for use under the NCARA program.
The following is the statistical breakdown by foreign state chargeability of those registered for the DV-2000 program:
AFRICA
ALGERIA 1,499 ERITREA 220 NAMIBIA 10 ANGOLA 12 ETHIOPIA 2,284 NIGER 22 BENIN 89 GABON 24 NIGERIA 8,550 BOTSWANA 8 GAMBIA, THE 122 RWANDA 35 BURKINA FASO 31 GHANA 8,662 SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE 0 BURUNDI 13 GUINEA 332 SENEGAL 207 CAMEROON 860 GUINEA-BISSAU 1 SEYCHELLES 3 CAPE VERDE 3 KENYA 1,514 SIERRA LEONE 2,617 CENTRAL AFRICAN REP. 18 LESOTHO 3 SOMALIA 1,678 CHAD 29 LIBERIA 1,762 SOUTH AFRICA 663 COMOROS 2 LIBYA 79 SUDAN 2,294 CONGO 51 MADAGASCAR 20 SWAZILAND 2 CONGO, DEMOCRATIC MALAWI 47 TANZANIA 267 REPUBLIC OF THE 386 MALI 86 TOGO 664 COTE D'IVOIRE 333 MAURITANIA 47 TUNISIA 175 DJIBOUTI 12 MAURITIUS 28 UGANDA 169 EGYPT 3,301 MOROCCO 3,007 ZAMBIA 72 EQUATORIAL GUINEA 5 MOZAMBIQUE 7 ZIMBABWE 97
ASIA
AFGHANISTAN 59 IRAQ 49 NEPAL 128 BAHRAIN 7 ISRAEL 67 OMAN 4 BANGLADESH 9,175 JAPAN 367 PAKISTAN 3,187 BHUTAN 0 JORDAN 86 QATAR 6 BRUNEI 0 NORTH KOREA 3 SAUDI ARABIA 83 BURMA 553 KUWAIT 29 SINGAPORE 33 CAMBODIA 103 LAOS 7 SRI LANKA 220 HONG KONG SPECIAL LEBANON 47 SYRIA 66 ADMIN. REGION 136 MALAYSIA 102 THAILAND 117 INDONESIA 758 MALDIVES 0 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 42 IRAN 489 MONGOLIA 4 YEMEN 63
EUROPE
ALBANIA 6,401 GREECE 107 NORTHERN IRELAND 73 ANDORRA 0 HUNGARY 219 NORWAY 39 ARMENIA 1,214 ICELAND 35 PORTUGAL 67 AUSTRIA 170 IRELAND 564 Macau 16 AZERBAIJAN 423 ITALY 294 ROMANIA 3,494 BELARUS 896 KAZAKHSTAN 689 RUSSIA 6,481 BELGIUM 83 KYRGYZSTAN 181 SAN MARINO 0 BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA 83 LATVIA 288 SERBIA-MONTENEGRO 597 BULGARIA 4,381 LIECHTENSTEIN 1 SLOVAKIA 375 CROATIA 123 LITHUANIA 1,316 SLOVENIA 26 CYPRUS 37 LUXEMBOURG 4 SPAIN 123 CZECH REPUBLIC 215 MACEDONIA, FORMER SWEDEN 272 DENMARK 88 YUGOSLAV REP. OF 397 SWITZERLAND 420 ESTONIA 152 MALTA 27 TAJIKISTAN 190 FINLAND 72 MOLDOVA 418 TURKEY 1,368 FRANCE 602 MONACO 1 TURKMENISTAN 66 Martinique 3 NETHERLANDS 112 UKRAINE 8,035 Guadeloupe 0 Aruba 2 UZBEKISTAN 964 GEORGIA 423 Netherlands Antilles 7 VATICAN CITY 0 GERMANY 3,417
NORTH AMERICA
BAHAMAS, THE 36
OCEANIA
AUSTRALIA 656 NAURU 0 SOLOMON ISLANDS 0 FIJI 1,069 NEW ZEALAND 357 TONGA 178 KIRIBATI 0 PALAU 2 TUVALU 0 MARSHALL ISLANDS 7 PAPUA NEW GUINEA 9 VANUATU 0 MICRONESIA, FEDERATED SAMOA 24 STATES OF 0
SOUTH AMERICA, CENTRAL AMERICA, AND THE CARIBBEAN
ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA 11 DOMINICA 58 PERU 1,040 ARGENTINA 404 ECUADOR 496 SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS 7 BARBADOS 23 GRENADA 36 SAINT LUCIA 22 BELIZE 18 GUATEMALA 302 SAINT VINCENT AND BOLIVIA 78 GUYANA 166 THE GRENADINES 26 BRAZIL 940 HONDURAS 143 SURINAME 23 CHILE 75 NICARAGUA 38 TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO 607 COSTA RICA 150 PANAMA 100 URUGUAY 39 CUBA 1,286 PARAGUAY 7 VENEZUELA 526
Natives of the following countries were not eligible to participate in DV-2000: Canada, China (mainland and Taiwan, except Hong Kong S.A.R.), Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, the Philippines, Poland, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and Vietnam.
E. RECENT AMENDMENTS TO THE VISA PORTION OF THE FOREIGN AFFAIRS MANUAL (FAM)
The following Transmittal Letters (TLs), which update the visa portion (Vol. 9) of the FAM, are now available:
VISA-188, dated April 9, 1999, which updates Part 42.41 Procedural Notes. Cost $2.75.
VISA-189, dated April 22, 1999, which updates 40.11 Notes and Procedural Notes. Cost $7.00.
VISA-190, dated April 30, 1999, which updates Appendix O, 1700. Cost $4.25.
VISA-191, dated May 7, 1999, which updates 40.67 Notes; 42.32(d)(2) Notes; 42.33 Notes; and 42.62 Procedural Notes. Cost $9.25.
A check payable to the Department of State must accompany the order. These TLs may be obtained from:
Distribution Services (OIS/PS/PR)
Room B847 A
Department of State
Washington, D.C. 20520
OBTAINING THE MONTHLY VISA BULLETIN: The Department of State's Bureau of Consular Affairs offers the monthly Visa Bulletin on the Internet's World Wide Web. The Internet Web address to access the Bulletin is:
From the home page, select the Visa section which contains the Visa Bulletin.
Individuals may also obtain the Visa Bulletin by fax. From a fax phone, dial (202) 647-3000. Follow the prompts and enter in the code 1038 to have each Bulletin faxed.
(The Department of State also has available a recorded message with visa cut-off dates which can be heard at (202) 663-1541. The recording is updated in the middle of each month with information on cut-off dates for the following month.)
To be placed on the Department of State's Visa Bulletin mailing list or to change an address, please write to:
Visa Bulletin
Visa Office
Department of State
Washington, D.C. 20522-0106
Only addresses within the U.S. postal system may be placed on the mailing list. Please include a recent mailing label when reporting changes or corrections of address; the Postal Service does NOT automatically notify the Visa Office of address changes. (Obtaining the Visa Bulletin by mail is a much slower option than any of the alternatives mentioned above.)
The Visa Bulletin can also be contacted by e-mail at the following address:
(The Visa Bulletin is not distributed by e-mail, however.)
Department of State Publication 9514
CA/VO:May 10, 1999
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