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STATE DEPARTMENT VISA NUMBERS FOR DECEMBER 1996
The following is the text of the State Department Visa Bulletin for December 1996:
A. STATUTORY NUMBERS
1. This bulletin summarizes the availability of immigrant numbers during December. 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 November 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=20 preference immigrants is set at 7% of the total annual family-sponsored and employment-based preference limits, i.e., a minimum of 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 300 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: 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=20 cut-off date listed below.)
PREFERENCES

       All Chargeability Areas 
       Except Those Listed  
                               INDIA        MEXICO      PHILIPPINES
Family

1st              08FEB96       08FEB96       22MAR92       01JUL86

2A*              01FEB93       01FEB93       01MAY92       01FEB93

2B               01JAN91       01JAN91       01JAN91       01JAN91

3rd              22SEP93       22SEP93       01DEC87       08SEP85

4th              15MAY86       01DEC84       22MAR85       07NOV77

*NOTE: For December, 2A numbers EXEMPT from per-country limit are available
to applicants from all countries with priority dates earlier than 01MAY92.
2A numbers SUBJECT to per-country limit are available to applicants
chargeable to all countries EXCEPT MEXICO with priority dates beginning
01MAY92 and earlier than 01FEB93. (2A numbers subject to per-country limit
are "unavailable" for applicants chargeable to MEXICO.)

          All Chargeability Areas 
          Except Those 
           Listed     INDIA      MEXICO    PHILIPPINES

Employment-
  Based

1st                    C              C               C             C   

2nd                    C          08MAY95          C             C   

3rd                    C          15MAR94          C          01JAN96

  Other             22SEP89       22SEP89       22SEP89       22SEP89
    Workers

4th                    C             C             C             C   

Certain                C             C             C             C   
Religious
Workers          

5th                    C             C             C             C 

Targeted Employ-       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 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 December, immigrant numbers in the DV category are available to qualified applicants chargeable to all regions/eligible countries on a "CURRENT" basis. 
(NOTE: For January, a rank cut-off will be established for Africa and Asia (regional) as well as for Bangladesh, Ghana, and Nigeria (country) to hold issuances within the annual limits. All other areas will remain "Current" for January. For February, there will be rank cut-offs for Albania and Poland as well.)
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.
C.NOTE ON VISA AVAILABILITY IN THE "SR" (CERTAIN RELIGIOUS WORKER) CLASSES
Heavy applicant demand for numbers (particularly for adjustment of status cases at INS offices) may oversubscribe the "SR" (Certain Religious Worker) visa category and require the establishment of a worldwide "SR" cut-off date as early as January. (This concerns "SR" cases only, and not "SD" Ministers of Religion or any other Employment Fourth preference applicant class.) 
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