The following is the State Department Visa Bulletin for January 1998: A. STATUTORY NUMBERS 1. This bulletin summarizes the availability of immigrant numbers during January. 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 December 8th 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 15APR96 15APR96 15APR96 01MAY93 08NOV86 2A* 08AUG93 08AUG93 08AUG93 15OCT92 08AUG93 2B 01JUL91 01JUL91 01JUL91 15MAY91 01JUL91 3rd 08JUL94 08JUL94 08JUL94 01FEB89 08AUG86 4th 08JUN87 08JUN87 01OCT85 01NOV86 17MAR78 *NOTE: For January, 2A numbers EXEMPT from per-country limit are available to applicants from all countries with priority dates earlier than 15OCT92. 2A numbers SUBJECT to per-country limit are available to applicants chargeable to all countries EXCEPT MEXICO with priority dates beginning 15OCT92 and earlier than 08AUG93. (2A numbers subject to per-country limit are “unavailable” for applicants chargeable to MEXICO.) All Charge- ability Areas CHINA- Except Those mainland Listed born INDIA MEXICO PHILIPPINES Employment- Based 1st C 08APR97 C C C 2nd C 15MAR96 01MAY96 C C 3rd C 08DEC93 08FEB95 C C Other 01DEC90 01DEC90 01DEC90 01DEC90 01DEC90 Workers 4th C C C C C Certain 01JUN97 01JUN97 01JUN97 01JUN97 01JUN97 Religious Workers 5th C C C C C Targeted Employ- C 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 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. Not more than 3,850 visas (7% of the 55,000 visa limit) may be provided to immigrants from any one country. For January, immigrant numbers in the DV category are available to qualified DV-98 applicants chargeable to all regions/eligible countries on a “CURRENT” basis, except as listed below. All DV Charge- ability Areas Except Those Region Listed Separately AFRICA AF 27,070 ASIA AS 10,220 EXCEPT: BANGLADESH AS 5,220 EUROPE CURRENT EXCEPT: ALBANIA EU 9,291 NORTH AMERICA CURRENT (BAHAMAS) OCEANIA CURRENT SOUTH AMERICA, CURRENT CENTRAL AMERICA, and the CARIBBEAN (NOTE: For January, a rank cut-off has been established for Africa and Asia (regional) as well as Bangladesh and Albania (country) to hold issuances within the numerical limits. All other areas will remain “Current” for January. It remains to be seen if applicant demand will increase sufficiently to require oversubscription of any other region/country for a subsequent 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 the DV-98 program ends as of September 30, 1998. DV visas may not be issued to DV-98 applicants after that date. Similarly, spouses and children accompanying or following to join DV-98 principals are only entitled to derivative DV status until September 30, 1998. DV visa availability through the very end of FY-1998 cannot be taken for granted. Numbers could be exhausted prior to September 30. Once all numbers provided by law for the DV-98 program have been used, no further issuances will be possible. C. CHINA-MAINLAND BORN AND INDIA EMPLOYMENT PREFERENCE VISA AVAILABILITY There has been some movement in the CHINA-mainland born and INDIA Employment preference cut-off dates for the month of January. It cannot be assumed that these cut-off dates will advance as quickly in the next few months, however. For January, there were unused numbers from the first quarter of the fiscal year which could be added to the regular January allocation totals. This allowed for greater movement in the cut-off dates. It remains to be seen how heavy the demand for visa numbers by applicants from those areas will be in the coming months, what the priority dates of the applicants may be, and how many unused numbers from other visa categories can be redistributed to the oversubscribed Employment preferences.
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