STATE DEPARTMENT VISA BULLETIN FOR OCTOBER 1998

A. STATUTORY NUMBERS


1. This bulletin summarizes the availability of immigrant numbers during October. 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 September 9th 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: CHINA-mainland born, 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 cut-off date listed below.)

PREFERENCES 
           All Charge-

           ability Areas   CHINA-   

           Except Those   mainland    

           Listed   born    INDIA    MEXICO    PHILIPPINES

Family

1st               01JUL97  01JUL97  01JUL97   01AUG93 22MAR87

2A*               01APR94  01APR94  01APR94   08APR93 01APR94

2B                22JAN92  22JAN92  22JAN92   01JUL91 22JAN92

3rd               22MAR95  22MAR95  22MAR95   08FEB90 08MAR87

4th               22MAR88  22MAR88  01APR86   01SEP87 01JUL78

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

Employment-
Based

1st                    C   01NOV97     C        C    C   

2nd                    C   15MAY96  22MAY97     C    C 

3rd                    C   08SEP94  22DEC95     C    C   

  Other             15FEB92   15FEB92  15FEB92  15FEB92 15FEB92
  Workers

4th                    C      C       C        C    C

  Certain              C      C       C        C     C   
  Religious      
  Workers

5th                    C          01SEP97     C        C    C 

  Targeted Employ-     C          01SEP97     C        C    C 
    ment Areas/
   Regional Centers

        All DV Charge-
               ability Areas
               Except Those
Region         Listed Separately

 

  AFRICA              AF 5,780        

  ASIA                AS 1,312

  EUROPE              EU 5,351      EXCEPT: ALBANIA  EU 2,090
                          

  NORTH AMERICA       NA    10

   (BAHAMAS)

 OCEANIA             OC   173  

 SOUTH AMERICA,      SA 1,235
 CENTRAL AMERICA,
and the CARIBBEAN

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-99 program ends as of September 30, 1999. DV visas may not be issued to DV-99 applicants after that date. Similarly, spouses and children accompanying or following to join DV-99 principals are only entitled to derivative DV status until September 30, 1999. DV visa availability through the very end of FY-1999 cannot be taken for granted. Numbers could be exhausted prior to September 30. Once all numbers provided by law for the DV-99 program have been used, no further issuances will be possible.

C. ESTABLISHMENT OF A CUT-OFF DATE FOR THE CHINA-MAINLAND BORN EMPLOYMENT FIFTH (INVESTOR)PREFERENCE CATEGORY

A cut-off date has been established for the CHINA-mainland born Employment Fifth preference category. No projection of possible cut-off date movement is possible at this time, since visa number availability in this category will depend on the extent to which numbers unused by other categories fall to the Employment Fifth preference

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