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STATE DEPARTMENT VISA BULLETIN – JANUARY 2000  
A. STATUTORY NUMBERS (This communication provides priority dates and other transitional information as taken from the State Department's Visa Bulletin released December 15, 1999.) 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
Family
All Chargeability Areas
Except Those Listed
India
Mexico
Philippines
1st  
15SEP98 
15SEP98 
22OCT93 
22MAR88
2A* 
15SEP95 
15SEP95
22JUN94
15SEP95
2B               
22NOV92 
22NOV92
22AUG91
22NOV92
3rd              
08OCT95 
08OCT95
01JUL91
15NOV87
4th              
01OCT88 
15MAR87 
01OCT88 
15JUL79
*NOTE: For JANUARY, 2A numbers EXEMPT from per-country limit are available to applicants from all countries with priority dates earlier than 22JUN94. 2A numbers SUBJECT to per-country limit are available to applicants chargeable to all countries EXCEPT MEXICO with priority dates beginning 22JUN94 and earlier than 15SEP95. (All 2A numbers provided for MEXICO are exempt from the per-country limit; there are no 2A numbers for MEXICO subject to per-country limit.)
Employment-  
    Based
All Chargeability Areas Except Those
Listed
CHINA-Mainland born
INDIA
MEXICO   
PHILIPPINES
1st                
c
c
c
c
c
2nd
c
c
c
c
c
3rd
c
c
c
c
c
Other Workers
01NOV93
01NOV93
01NOV93
01NOV93
01NOV93
4th
c
c
c
c
c
Certain Religious Workers
c
c
c
c
c
5th
c
c
c
c
c
Targeted Employment Areas
c
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 JANUARY 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 permit 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. No one country can receive more than seven percent of the available diversity visas in any one year.
For JANUARY, immigrant numbers in the DV category are available to qualified DV-2000 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:
Region
All DV Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed Separately
 
Africa
AF 12,800
Except: Ghana AF 6,040 Nigeria AF 5,801
Asia
AS 4,940
 
Europe
EU 14,200 
Except: Albania EU 5,100
North America (Bahamas)
NA 15
 
Oceania
OC 753
 
SOUTH AMERICA,  CENTRAL AMERICA, and the CARIBBEAN
SA 1,650
 
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-2000 program ends as of September 30, 2000. DV visas may not be issued to DV-2000 applicants after that date. Similarly, spouses and children accompanying or following to join DV-2000 principals are only entitled to derivative DV status until September 30, 2000. DV visa availability through the very end of FY-2000 cannot be taken for granted. Numbers could be exhausted prior to September 30. Once all numbers provided by law for the DV-2000 program have been used, no further issuances will be possible.