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MARCH 1995 VISA NUMBERS
IMMIGRANT NUMBERS FOR MARCH 1995

A) STATUTORY NUMBERS (This communication provides priority dates and other

transitional information as taken from the State Department's Visa Bulletin

released February 10, 1995.)

        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  DOMINICAN

        Listed         born      REPUBLIC  INDIA    MEXICO    PHILIPPINES 



1st     C              C          C        C        01OCT94   01DEC85



2A*     01FEB92        01FEB92    01FEB92  01FEB92  01JAN92   01FEB92



2B      22MAR90        22MAR90    22MAR90  22MAR90  22MAR90   01OCT89



3rd     15SEP92        15SEP92    15SEP92  15SEP92  15APR87   29SEP83



4th     22APR85        22APR85    22APR85  22AUG83  01MAY84   12AUG77





*NOTE:  For MARCH, 2A numbers EXEMPT from per-country limit are available

to applicants from all countries with priority dates earlier than 01JAN92.

2A numbers SUBJECT to per-country limit are available to applicants

chargeable to all countries EXCEPT MEXICO with priority dates beginning

01JAN92 and earlier than 01FEB92.  (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.)



Employment-Based



         All Charge-

         ability Areas  CHINA-

         Except Those   mainland  DOMINICAN

         Listed         born      REPUBLIC   INDIA    MEXICO  PHILIPPINES 



1st      C              C         C          C        C       C



2nd      C              C         C          C        C       C



3rd      C              15JUL93   C          C        C       15MAR94



Other    01SEP89        01SEP89   01SEP89    01SEP89  01SEP89 01SEP89 

Workers



4th      C              C         C          C        C       01AUG93



Certain  C              C         C          C        C       01AUG93 

Religious Workers



5th      C              C         C          C        C       C



Targeted C              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.



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

numbers BELOW the specified allocation cut-off number:





               All DV Chargeability

               Areas Except Those

Region         Listed Separately



AFRICA         AF 29,250      EXCEPT:   EGYPT AF 18,070



ASIA           AS 04,832      EXCEPT:   BANGLADESH AS 04,388



EUROPE         Current        EXCEPT:   POLAND EU 15,415



NORTH AMERICA  NA 00,010

(BAHAMAS)



OCEANIA        Current



SOUTH AMERICA  Current

CENTRAL AMERICA,

and the CARIBBEAN



(NOTE: On February 16, the visa availability determination for

FEBRUARY announced in Visa Bulletin No. 46, Vol. VII, was amended

to reflect DV numbers available on a CURRENT basis for all

regions/countries for THAT month.)



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 Fiscal (visa) Year 1995 ends as of

September 30, 1995, and their lottery registration will confer no

benefit after that date.



As with earlier lotteries, so permit DV Visas to be issued to the

limits, substantially more persons have been registered than

there are Visas, since many applicants are liable not to pursue

their visa case.  A prompt response to the DV notification letter

maximizes an applicant's chance of qualifying for a visa, but no

applicant is assured of visa availability or issuance.



DV numbers available for allocation each month will be provided

in order of lottery rank to applicants who have indicated that

they are prepared to proceed with their visa case.  Allocation

cut-offs will be established if visa demand is in excess of the

supply of visa numbers.  Heavy demand within a particular region

or country could make necessary the retrogression (backward

movement) of a rank cut-off.  Such allocation cut-offs and

retrogressions are a real possibility for the months ahead.  No

applicant can take future DV visa availability for granted.  DV

visa numbers could be exhausted even before the end of the fiscal

(visa) year.  With each passing month, fewer and fewer DV numbers

remain.  An allocation cut-off for OCEANIA and SOUTH AMERICA must

be expected for April.  Very heavy demand for POLAND DV numbers,

particularly at INS offices in the U.S. might also bring

allocations for that country to the annual limit in the not-too-

distant future.



APPLICANTS CANNOT ASSUME THAT DV VISAS WILL BE AVAILABLE THROUGH

SEPTEMBER. WHENEVER VISA NUMBERS ARE USED TO THEIR LIMIT, NO

FURTHER DV VISA ALLOCATIONS CAN BE MADE TO CONSULAR OFFICES

ABROAD, AND NO FURTHER DV ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS APPLICATIONS CAN

BE APPROVED AT INS OFFICES IN THE U.S.



C.   TRANSITION DIVERSITY (AA-1) CATEGORY FOR NATIVES OF CERTAIN

     "ADVERSELY AFFECTED" COUNTRIES



Section 217 of the Immigration and Nationality Technical

Correction Act of 1994 (P.L. 103-416) permits the 1,404 AA-1 visa

numbers which were unused during the three year (FYs 1992 through

1994) term of that program to be issued in FY-1995, 1,303 of

these numbers are reserved for applicants from Ireland (including

Northern Ireland).  Entitlement to these visas is limited to

natives of the countries which had earlier been identified as

"adversely affected" for purposes of the "NP-5" immigrant program

established under Section 314 of the Immigration Reform and

Control Act of 1986 (P.L. 99-603).  Applicants for these visas

are to be selected from among those who had submitted

applications for Diversity (DV-1) visas during the June 1994

mail-in period.



For AA-1 countries other than Ireland and Northern Ireland, visa

recipients will be identified from persons who have already been

notified of their registration for a Diversity (DV-1) visa; there

will be no additional applicants registered.  Additional

registration are needed to permit use of all of the AA-1 visas

reserved for Ireland and Northern Ireland, however.  Notification

letters for the additional persons registered for those AA-1

numbers are to be mailed during February 1995.



For March, immigrant numbers in the AA-1 category are available

to qualified applicants as follows:  (If an allocation cut-off

number is indicated, visas are available only for applicants with

rank order number below the specified allocation cut-off.):



AFRICA    (eligible countries: Algeria and Tunisia):   29,250



ASIA      (eligible countries: Indonesia and Japan):   4,832



EUROPE    (for the 24 AA-1 chargeability areas in Europe, NOT

          including Ireland and Northern Ireland: 15,415



     For  Ireland and Northern Ireland: Current



SOUTH AMERICA (eligible country: Argentina): Current



An interim rule for the Fiscal Year 1995 AA-1 program was

published in the Federal Register on February 8, 1995 (Fed. Reg.

Vol. 60, No. 26, 7443-7446).  AA-1 visa availability for

countries other than Ireland (including Northern Ireland) will be

closely influenced by Diversity (DV) visa availability for the

various regions and countries, and establishment of DV allocation

cut-offs will likely result in similar cut-offs for AA-1

allocations.



Since the amount of AA-1 visas is so limited and since the visa

number could be exhausted even before the September 30 end of FY-

1995, applicants who intend to take advantage of this program

must pursue their cases as expeditiously as possible.