Visa Bulletin for March 1996

	IMMIGRANT NUMBERS FOR MARCH 1996

A) STATUTORY NUMBERS (This communication provides priority dates and other 
transitional information as taken from the State Department's Visa Bulletin 
released February 12, 1996.)
	
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.

PREFERENCES
FAMILY
	All Charge-
	ability Areas 	CHINA-
	Except Those  	mainland	
	Listed		born			INDIA		MEXICO	PHILIPPINES 

1st	C		C			C		01APR95	14FEB86

2A*	15OCT92	15OCT92		15OCT92	22MAR92	15OCT92

2B	01OCT90	01OCT90		01OCT90	01OCT90	01OCT90

3rd	01JUL93	01JUL93		01JUL93	08OCT87	08NOV84

4th	01JAN86	01JAN86		08OCT84	08APR85	23SEP77

*NOTE:  For MARCH, 2A numbers EXEMPT from per-country limit are available 
to applicants from all countries with priority dates earlier than 22MAR92. 
 2A numbers SUBJECT to per-country limit are available to applicants 
chargeable to all countries EXCEPT MEXICO with priority dates beginning 
22MAR92 and earlier than 01OCT92.  (2A numbers subject to per-country limit 
are "unavailable" for applicants chargeable to MEXICO.) (The three-year 
transition program which had provided additional visas for spouses/children 
of legalization beneficiaries  has ended; petitions approved on behalf of 
such spouses/children continue to accord them status in the Family 2A 
preference, however.)

	All Charge-
	ability Areas	CHINA-
	Except Those	mainland
	Listed		born		INDIA		MEXICO	PHILIPPINES  
Employment-Based

1st	C		C		C			C		C

2nd	C		C		C			C		C

3rd	C		C		C			C		22JUL94

Other	01MAR91	01MAR91	01MAR91		01MAR91	01MAR91   
Workers
4th	C		C		C			C		08MAY94

Certain	C		C		C			C		08MAY94   
Religious Workers

5th	C		C		C			C		C

Targeted C		C		C			C		C  
Employment 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 MARCH 1996 VISA BULLETIN

B.  DIVERSITY IMMIGRANT (DV) CATEGORY

Section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act provides 55,000 
immigrant visas each fiscal year to provide 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.

The allotment of FY-1996 visa numbers for each region is as follows: 
Africa, 20,426; Asia, 7,087; Europe, 24,257; North America (Bahamas), 8; 
South America, Central America, and the Caribbean, 2,407; and Oceania, 815.

For MARCH, immigrant numbers in the DV category are available to qualified 
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 number BELOW the specified 
allocation cut-off number:


			All DV Chargeability
			Areas Except Those
Region			Listed Separately

AFRICA		CURRENT

ASIA			AS 06,358		EXCEPT:	BANGLADESH  AS 04,085

EUROPE		CURRENT		EXCEPT:	POLAND  EU  07,717

NORTH AMERICA	CURRENT
  (BAHAMAS)

OCEANIA		OC OO,509

SOUTH AMERICA,	CURRENT
  CENTRAL AMERICA,
  and the CARIBBEAN

NOTE:  Increased demand for DV numbers by applicants from Poland has made 
necessary the establishment of the above rank cut-off for March. 

C.  CHANGE IN VISA SERVICE AT CONSULAR OFFICES

Visa services at the following consular offices ended as of the dates 
indicated:

France:  Consulate General, Bordeaux (Visa services ended January 12, 1996)
Switzerland:  Consulate General, Zurich (Visa services ended January 22, 
1996)

© 1999, American Immigration Lawyers Association