 A. STATUTORY NUMBERS
1. This bulletin
summarizes the availability of immigrant numbers during May . 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 April 7th 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.) |
C.