Visa Bulletin for June 1998
Bureau of Consular Affairs
VISA BULLETIN
Number 87
Volume VII
Washington, D.C.
IMMIGRANT NUMBERS FOR JUNE 1998
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 11th 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 O1DEC96 01DEC96 01DEC96 01AUG93 22JAN87 2A* 08FEB94 08FEB94 08FEB94 15MAR93 08FEB94 2B 22NOV91 22NOV91 22NOV91 01JUL91 22NOV91 3rd 01JAN95 01JAN95 01JAN95 22SEP89 01JAN87 4th 01MAR88 01MAR88 01FEB86 08MAY87 15MAY78
*NOTE: For June, 2A numbers EXEMPT from per-country limit are available to applicants from all countries with priority dates earlier than 15MAR93. 2A numbers SUBJECT to per-country limit are available to applicants chargeable to all countries EXCEPT MEXICO with priority dates beginning 15MAR93 and earlier than 08FEB94. (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 08JUN97 C C C
2nd C 08MAY96 22AUG96 C C
3rd C 22FEB94 15JUN95 C C
Other 01JUN91 01JUN91 01JUN91 01JUN91 01JUN91
Workers
4th C C C C C
Certain 01SEP97 01SEP97 01SEP97 01SEP97 01SEP97
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 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. DV visas are divided among six geographic regions. Not more than 3,850 visas (7% of the 55,000 visa limit) may be provided to immigrants from any one country.
For June, immigrant numbers in the DV category are available to qualified DV-98 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 32,970
ASIA AS 11,820 EXCEPT: BANGLADESH AS 7,105
EUROPE EU 19,330 EXCEPT: ALBANIA EU 14,590
NORTH AMERICA NA 3
(BAHAMAS)
OCEANIA OC 690
SOUTH AMERICA, SA 1,851
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-98 program ends as of September 30, 1998. DV visas may not be issued to DV-98 applicants after that date. Similarly, spouses and children accompanying or following to join DV-98 principals are only entitled to derivative DV status until September 30, 1998. DV visa availability through the very end of FY-1998 cannot be taken for granted. Numbers could be exhausted prior to September 30. Once all numbers provided by law for the DV-98 program have been used, no further issuances will be possible.
C. FY-1999 DIVERSITY IMMIGRANT VISA (DV-99) LOTTERY RESULTS
The National Visa Center at Portsmouth, New Hampshire has registered and notified the winners of the DV-99 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. Almost 90,000 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-99 numbers will be used during fiscal year 1999 (October 1, 1998 until September 30, 1999).
Applicants registered for the DV-99 program were selected at random from the approximately 3.4 million qualified entries received during the one-month application period which ran from noon on October 24, 1997 through noon on November 24, 1997. An additional 2.4 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 (7% of the *50,000 total) 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 in an occupation that requires at least two years of training or experience within the past five years.
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 1999 will end. Selected applicants who do not receive visas by September 30, 1999 will derive no further benefit from their DV-99 registration. Similarly, spouses and children accompanying or following to join DV-99 principal applicants are only entitled to derivative DV status until September 30, 1999.
Only participants in the DV-99 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-2000 lottery. The dates for the mail-in period for the DV-2000 lottery are scheduled from noon on October 1, 1998 until noon on October 31, 1998. Instructions on entering the DV-2000 program will be widely publicized some time in August 1998.
*The Nicaraguan and Central American Relief Act (NCARA) passed by Congress in November 1997 stipulates that beginning with DV-99, and for as long as necessary, 5,000 of the 55,000 annually-allocated diversity visas will be made available for use under the NCARA program.
The following is the statistical breakdown by foreign state chargeability of those registered for the DV-99 program:
AFRICA
ALGERIA 1,378 ERITREA 470 NAMIBIA 5
ANGOLA 15 ETHIOPIA 3,092 NIGER 21
BENIN 60 GABON 12 NIGERIA 5,443
BOTSWANA 1 GAMBIA, THE 205 RWANDA 75
BURKINA FASO 41 GHANA 5,531 SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE 0
BURUNDI 32 GUINEA 311 SENEGAL 479
CAMEROON 1,164 GUINEA-BISSAU 1 SEYCHELLES 2
CAPE VERDE 17 KENYA 1,328 SIERRA LEONE 1,008
CENTRAL AFRICAN REP. 5 LESOTHO 0 SOMALIA 728
CHAD 24 LIBERIA 1,218 SOUTH AFRICA 446
COMOROS 1 LIBYA 40 SUDAN 2,574
CONGO 48 MADAGASCAR 21 SWAZILAND 8
CONGO, DEMOCRATIC MALAWI 81 TANZANIA 357
REPUBLIC OF THE 301 MALI 174 TOGO 527
COTE D'IVOIRE 394 MAURITANIA 38 TUNISIA 112
DJIBOUTI 4 MAURITIUS 33 UGANDA 215
EGYPT 3,558 MOROCCO 2,606 ZAMBIA 70
EQUATORIAL GUINEA 5 MOZAMBIQUE 5 ZIMBABWE 87
ASIA
AFGHANISTAN 145 IRAQ 79 NEPAL 226
BAHRAIN 1 ISRAEL 114 OMAN 1
BANGLADESH 5,031 JAPAN 448 PAKISTAN 3,470
BHUTAN 0 JORDAN 114 QATAR 0
BRUNEI 0 NORTH KOREA 3 SAUDI ARABIA 11
BURMA 373 KUWAIT 18 SINGAPORE 19
CAMBODIA 62 LAOS 5 SRI LANKA 322
HONG KONG SPECIAL LEBANON 48 SYRIA 60
ADMIN. REGION 267 MALAYSIA 69 THAILAND 84
INDONESIA 241 MALDIVES 4 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 1
IRAN 462 MONGOLIA 8 YEMEN 133
EUROPE
ALBANIA 4,482 GREECE 92 NORTHERN IRELAND 124
ANDORRA 0 HUNGARY 219 NORWAY 63
ARMENIA 1,068 ICELAND 28 PORTUGAL 117
AUSTRIA 151 IRELAND 652 Macau 54
AZERBAIJAN 414 ITALY 540 ROMANIA 3,693
BELARUS 725 KAZAKHSTAN 511 RUSSIA 4,415
BELGIUM 114 KYRGYZSTAN 161 SAN MARINO 0
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA 88 LATVIA 193 SERBIA-MONTENEGRO 510
BULGARIA 4,181 LIECHTENSTEIN 11 SLOVAKIA 458
CROATIA 152 LITHUANIA 1,139 SLOVENIA 18
CYPRUS 38 LUXEMBOURG 7 SPAIN 133
CZECH REPUBLIC 208 MACEDONIA, FORMER SWEDEN 298
DENMARK 85 YUGOSLAV REP. OF 274 SWITZERLAND 480
ESTONIA 108 MALTA 9 TAJIKISTAN 97
FINLAND 133 MOLDOVA 334 TURKEY 1,450
FRANCE 602 MONACO 0 TURKMENISTAN 34
Martinique 1 NETHERLANDS 188 UKRAINE 5,047
Guadeloupe 1 Aruba 9 UZBEKISTAN 663
GEORGIA 381 Netherlands Antilles 8 VATICAN CITY 0
GERMANY 2,972
NORTH AMERICA
BAHAMAS, THE 14
OCEANIA
AUSTRALIA 389 NAURU 0 SOLOMON ISLANDS 0
FIJI 724 NEW ZEALAND 213 TONGA 96
KIRIBATI 0 PALAU 0 TUVALU 0
MARSHALL ISLANDS 2 PAPUA NEW GUINEA 5 VANUATU 0
MICRONESIA, FEDERATED SAMOA 15
STATES OF 0
SOUTH AMERICA, CENTRAL AMERICA, AND THE CARIBBEAN
ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA 2 ECUADOR 345 SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS 3
ARGENTINA 229 GRENADA 37 SAINT LUCIA 7
BARBADOS 16 GUATEMALA 223 SAINT VINCENT AND
BELIZE 7 GUYANA 119 THE GRENADINES 9
BOLIVIA 46 HAITI 185 SURINAME 22
BRAZIL 393 HONDURAS 79 TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO 270
CHILE 69 NICARAGUA 62 URUGUAY 28
COSTA RICA 89 PANAMA 41 VENEZUELA 196
CUBA 985 PARAGUAY 15
DOMINICA 16 PERU 612
Natives of the following countries were not eligible to participate in DV-99: Canada, China (mainland and Taiwan, except Hong Kong S.A.R.), Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, India, Jamaica, Mexico, the Philippines, Poland, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and Vietnam.
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:
http://travel.state.gov
From the home page, select the Visa section which contains the Visa Bulletin.
In addition to the Internet, the Visa Bulletin can be accessed and downloaded from the Consular Affairs electronic bulletin board. Those with a computer and modem should dial (301) 946-4400. No special software is required. The login is travel; the password is info. (Lower case required.)
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:
VISABULLET@SA1WPOA.US-STATE.GOV
(The Visa Bulletin is not distributed by E-mail, however.)
Department of State Publication 9514
CA/VO:May 11, 1998