Visa Bulletin for October 2000
IMMIGRANT NUMBERS FOR OCTOBER 2000
A. STATUTORY NUMBERS (This communication provides priority dates and other transitional information as taken from the State Department's Visa Bulletin released September 15, 2000.) On the following chart, the listing of a date for any class indicates that the class is oversubscribed; "C" means current, i.e., numbers are available for all qualified applicants; and "U" means unavailable, i.e., no numbers are available.
PREFERENCE All Charge- ability Areas CHINA- Except Those Mainland Listed born INDIA MEXICO PHILIPPINES Family 1st 01FEB99 01FEB99 01FEB99 15APR94 08APR88 2A* 15MAY96 15MAY96 15MAY96 01OCT94 15MAY96 2B 01MAY93 01MAY93 01MAY93 01OCT91 01MAY93 3rd 01MAR96 01MAR96 01MAR96 01OCT94 15NOV87 4th 22JUN89 22JUN89 01JAN88 22JUN89 01AUG79
*NOTE: For OCTOBER, 2A numbers EXEMPT from per-country limit are available to applicants from all countries with priority dates earlier than 01OCT94. 2A numbers SUBJECT to per-country limit are available to applicants chargeable to all countries EXCEPT MEXICO with priority dates beginning 01OCT94 and earlier than 15MAY96. (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 C C C C
2nd C 08MAR99 01NOV99 C C
3rd C 15MAR98 08FEB97 C C
Other 01NOV95 01NOV95 01NOV95 01NOV95 01NOV95
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.
ADDITIONAL HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE OCTOBER VISA BULLETIN
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-2001 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 OCTOBER , immigrant numbers in the DV category are available to qualified DV-2001 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 12,500 ASIA AS 5,100 EUROPE EU 14,000 Except: Albania EU 3,950 NORTH AMERICA NA 10 (BAHAMAS) OCEANIA OC 675 SOUTH AMERICA, SA 1,350 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-2001 program ends as of September 30, 2001. DV visas may not be issued to DV-2001 applicants after that date. Similarly, spouses and children accompanying or following to join DV-2001 principals are only entitled to derivative DV status until September 30, 2001. DV visa availability through the very end of FY-2001 cannot be taken for granted. Numbers could be exhausted prior to September 30. Once all numbers provided by law for the DV-2001 program have been used, no further issuances will be possible.
27MMVIS.OCT 2000