A. STATUTORY
NUMBERS
This bulletin summarizes
the availability of immigrant numbers during October.
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
September 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: 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.)
