Federal Agencies, Visa Bulletins

Visa Bulletin for February 1997

1/10/97 AILA Doc. No. 97011059. Adjustment of Status, Business Immigration, Consular Processing, Family Immigration, Family-Based Immigrants

IMMIGRANT NUMBERS FOR FEBRUARY 1997

A. STATUTORY NUMBERS (This communication provides priority dates and other transitional information as taken from the State Department's Visa Bulletin released January 10, 1997.) 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 Except Those Listed
INDIA MEXICO PHILIPPINES

1st	01APR96	01APR96	08SEP92	15JUL86
2A*	08FEB93	08FEB93	01JUN92	08FEB93
2B	15FEB91	15FEB91	15FEB91	15FEB91
3rd	15NOV93	15NOV93	22DEC87	22DEC87
4th	15JUL86	08FEB85	15AUG85	22NOV77

*NOTE: For FEBRUARY, 2A numbers EXEMPT from per-country limit are available to applicants from all countries with priority dates earlier than 01JUN92. 2A numbers SUBJECT to per-country limit are available to applicants chargeable to all countries EXCEPT MEXICO with priority dates beginning 01JUN92 and earlier than 08FEB93. (2A numbers subject to per-country limit are "unavailable" for applicants chargeable to MEXICO.)

EMPLOYMENT-BASED
All Charge-ability Areas Except Those Listed
INDIA MEXICO PHILIPPINES

1st	C	C	C	C
2nd	C	01NOV95	C	C
3rd	C	01SEP94	C	C
Other Workers	01FEB90	01FEB90	01FEB90	01FEB90
4th	C	C	C	C
Certain Religious Workers	C	C	C	C
5th	C	C	C	C
Targeted Employment Areas/Regional Centers	C	C	C	C

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 FEBRUARY 1997 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.

For FEBRUARY, 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 numbers BELOW the specified allocation cut-off number:

All DV Charge-ability Areas Except Those Listed Separately

Region AFRICA AF 35,830
EXCEPT: GHANA AF 10,730 NIGERIA AF 09,750

ASIA AS 08,210
EXCEPT: BANGLADESH AS 05,880

EUROPE CURRENT
EXCEPT: ALBANIA EU 16,850 POLAND EU 08,301

NORTH AMERICA (BAHAMAS) CURRENT OCEANIA
CURRENT SOUTH AMERICA CURRENT (CENTRAL AMERICA,and the CARRIBBEAN)

(NOTE: For MARCH, there will be a regional rank cut-off for Europe because of heavy applicant demand for numbers. Increased demand for DV numbers from Oceania will make necessary the establishment of a regional rank cut-off for April.)

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-97 program ends as of September 30, 1997. DV visas may not be issued to DV-97 applicants after that date. Similarly, spouses and children accompanying or following to join DV-97 principals are only entitled to derivative DV status until September 30, 1997.

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