August 2018 Visa Bulletin

From the bulletin:

This bulletin summarizes the availability of immigrant numbers during August for: “Final Action Dates” and “Dates for Filing Applications,” indicating when immigrant visa applicants should be notified to assemble and submit required documentation to the National Visa Center.

Unless otherwise indicated on the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) website at www.uscis.gov/visabulletininfo , individuals seeking to file applications for adjustment of status with USCIS in the Department of Homeland Security must use the “Final Action Dates” charts below for determining when they can file such applications. When USCIS determines that there are more immigrant visas available for the fiscal year than there are known applicants for such visas, USCIS will state on its website that applicants may instead use the “Dates for Filing Visa Applications” charts in this Bulletin.

1. Procedures for determining dates. Consular officers are required to report to the Department of State documentarily qualified applicants for numerically limited visas; USCIS reports applicants for adjustment of status. Allocations in the charts below were made, to the extent possible, in chronological order of reported priority dates, for demand received by July 10th . If not all demand could be satisfied, the category or foreign state in which demand was excessive was deemed oversubscribed. The final action date for an oversubscribed category is the priority date of the first applicant who could not be reached within the numerical limits. If it becomes necessary during the monthly allocation process to retrogress a final action date, supplemental requests for numbers will be honored only if the priority date falls within the new final action date announced in this bulletin. If at any time an annual limit were reached, it would be necessary to immediately make the preference category “unavailable”, and no further requests for numbers would be honored.

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. 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, EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, HONDURAS, INDIA, MEXICO, PHILIPPINES, and VIETNAM.

4. Section 203(a) of the INA prescribes preference classes for allotment of Family-sponsored immigrant visas as follows:

FAMILY-SPONSORED PREFERENCES

First : ( F1 ) Unmarried Sons and Daughters of U.S. 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, plus any unused first preference numbers:

A. ( F2A ) Spouses and Children of Permanent Residents: 77% of the overall second preference limitation, of which 75% are exempt from the per-country limit;

B. ( F2B ) Unmarried Sons and Daughters (21 years of age or older) of Permanent Residents: 23% of the overall second preference limitation.

Third : ( F3 ) Married Sons and Daughters of U.S. Citizens: 23,400, plus any numbers not required by first and second preferences.

Fourth : ( F4 ) Brothers and Sisters of Adult U.S. Citizens: 65,000, plus any numbers not required by first three preferences.

In plain words: “Unavailable” (“U”) means paused; “retrogress” means move back; “chargeability area” means country of birth; “final action date” means approval date; “date for filing” means filing date.

From the bulletin:

For September , immigrant numbers in the DV category are available to qualified DV-2018 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

39,500

ASIA

CURRENT

EUROPE

25,775

NORTH AMERICA (BAHAMAS)

CURRENT

OCEANIA

1,450

SOUTH AMERICA,

and the CARIBBEAN

1,715

In plain words: “chargeability area” means country of birth.

From the bulletin:

Given the limited availability of visa numbers and the existing demand, the Department expects to reach the FY-2018 annual limit of 50 Special Immigrant Visas in the SI category early this year. As a result, it has been necessary to maintain an August Final Action Date of April 22, 2012. Once the annual limit of 50 visas is reached, further issuances in the SI category will not be possible until October 2018, under the FY-2019 annual limit. The SQ Special Immigrant Visa category for certain Iraqi and Afghan nationals employed by or on behalf of the U.S. government in Iraq or Afghanistan is not affected and remains current.

In plain words: “final action date” means approval date.

From the bulletin:

The level of applicant demand being received in several preference categories has been steadily increasing. Although it is too early to tell at this time, continued high levels of demand might require the retrogression of one or more final action dates for September. Such action would be necessary to hold number use within the overall worldwide annual limits.

INDIA: The level of applicant demand being received in the Family Third and Fourth preference categories in recent months has increased dramatically. It is expected that one or both of these final action dates will be retrogressed for September. Such action would be necessary to hold number use within the per-country annual limit.

Any retrogression of the above mentioned preferences would be temporary and in October, the first month of fiscal year 2019, the final action dates would be returned to those established for August.

In plain words: “retrogress” means move back; “final action date” means approval date.

From the bulletin:

WORLDWIDE, EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, HONDURAS, MEXICO, AND PHILIPPINES EMPLOYMENT-BASED FIRST (E1) PREFERENCE: As readers were advised in item F of the July Visa Bulletin, there continues to be an extremely high rate of demand for E1 numbers, primarily for USCIS adjustment of status applicants. Therefore, pursuant to the Immigration and Nationality Act, it has been necessary to impose an E1 Final Action Date for the month of August, with this date being imposed immediately. This action will allow the Department to hold worldwide number use within the maximum allowed under the FY-2018 annual limits.

INDIA Employment-based Fourth (E4) AND Certain Religious Workers (SR) preference categories: There has been extremely high demand in these preference categories. Pursuant to the Immigration and Nationality Act, it has been necessary to impose E4 and SR Final Action Dates for India, which has reached its per-country limit. This action will allow the Department to hold worldwide number use within the maximum allowed under the FY-2018 annual limits.

The implementation of the above mentioned dates will only be temporary, with the dates returning to Current status for October, the first month of fiscal year 2019.

In plain words: “Current” (“C”) means open to everyone; “final action date” means approval date.

From the bulletin:

The Kentucky Consular Center in Williamsburg, Kentucky has registered and notified the winners of the DV-2019 diversity lottery. The diversity lottery was conducted under the terms of section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act and makes available *50,000 permanent resident visas annually to persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. Approximately 87,610 applicants have been registered and notified and may now make an application for an immigrant visa. Since it is likely that some of the first *50,000 persons registered will not pursue their cases to visa issuance, this larger figure should insure that all DV-2019 numbers will be used during fiscal year 2019 (October 1, 2018 until September 30, 2019).

Applicants registered for the DV-2019 program were selected at random from 14,352,013 qualified entries (22,425,053 with derivatives) received during the 35-day application period that ran from noon, Eastern Daylight Time on Wednesday, October 18, 2017, until noon, Eastern Daylight Time on Wednesday, November 22, 2017. The visas have been apportioned among six geographic regions with a maximum of seven percent available to persons born in any single country. During the visa interview, principal applicants must provide proof of a high school education or its equivalent, or show two years of work experience in an occupation that requires at least two years of training or experience within the past five years. Those selected will need to act on their immigrant visa applications quickly. Applicants should follow the instructions in their notification letter and must fully complete the information requested.

Registrants living legally in the United States who wish to apply for adjustment of their status must contact U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for information on the requirements and procedures. Once the total *50,000 visa numbers have been used, the program for fiscal year 2019 will end. Selected applicants who do not receive visas by September 30, 2019 will derive no further benefit from their DV-2019 registration. Similarly, spouses and children accompanying or following to join DV-2019 principal applicants are only entitled to derivative diversity visa status until September 30, 2019.

Dates for the DV-2020 program registration period will be widely publicized in the coming months. Those interested in entering the DV-2020 program should check the Department of State’s Visa web page in the coming months.

*The Nicaraguan and Central American Relief Act (NACARA) passed by Congress in November 1997 stipulated that up to 5,000 of the 55,000 annually-allocated diversity visas be made available for use under the NACARA program. The reduction of the limit of available visas to 50,000 began with DV-2000.

The following is the statistical breakdown by foreign state of chargeability of those registered for the DV-2019 program:

AFRICA

ALGERIA 2,462

ESWATINI 1

NAMIBIA 7

ANGOLA 316

ETHIOPIA 3,856

NIGER 58

BENIN 751

GABON 41

RWANDA 510

BOTSWANA 3

GAMBIA, THE 41

SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE 0

BURKINA FASO 174

GHANA 2,484

SENEGAL 260

BURUNDI 300

GUINEA 719

SEYCHELLES 1

CABO VERDE 11

GUINEA-BISSAU 6

SIERRA LEONE 1,207

CAMEROON 2,978

KENYA 2,107

SOMALIA 196

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC 11

LESOTHO 3

SOUTH AFRICA 454

CHAD 47

LIBERIA 2,484

SOUTH SUDAN 37

COMOROS 10

LIBYA 261

SUDAN 2,617

CONGO 248

MADAGASCAR 38

TANZANIA 106

CONGO, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE 4,186

MALAWI 22

TOGO 1,242

COTE D’IVOIRE 1,036

MALI 58

TUNISIA 115

DJIBOUTI 89

MAURITANIA 25

UGANDA 318

EGYPT 4,185

MAURITIUS 11

ZAMBIA 41

EQUATORIAL GUINEA 16

MOROCCO 1,717

ZIMBABWE 90

ERITREA 284

MOZAMBIQUE 7

ASIA

AFGHANISTAN 543

JAPAN 376

QATAR 38

BAHRAIN 16

JORDAN 613

SAUDI ARABIA 630

BHUTAN 38

NORTH KOREA 1

SINGAPORE 27

BRUNEI 0

KUWAIT 158

SRI LANKA 784

BURMA 273

LAOS 11

SYRIA 420

CAMBODIA 237

LEBANON 268

TAIWAN 374

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMIN. REGION 69

MALAYSIA 104

THAILAND 122

INDONESIA 179

MALDIVES 5

TIMOR-LESTE 0

IRAN 4,199

MONGOLIA 196

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 157

IRAQ 731

NEPAL 3,633

YEMEN 1,193

ISRAEL 214

OMAN 10

EUROPE

ALBANIA 2,503

GREECE 98

NORTHERN IRELAND 8

ANDORRA 0

HUNGARY 92

NORWAY 19

ARMENIA 1,738

ICELAND 4

Svalbard 1

AUSTRIA 24

IRELAND 52

POLAND 461

AZERBAIJAN 1,203

ITALY 333

PORTUGAL 30

BELARUS 1,355

KAZAKHSTAN 886

ROMANIA 430

BELGIUM 42

KOSOVO 286

RUSSIA 3,641

BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA 53

KYRGYZSTAN 693

SAN MARINO 1

BULGARIA 411

LATVIA 52

SERBIA 307

CROATIA 43

LIECHTENSTEIN 0

SLOVAKIA 27

CYPRUS 6

LITHUANIA 184

SLOVENIA 9

CZECH REPUBLIC 64

LUXEMBOURG 5

SPAIN 164

DENMARK 32

MACEDONIA 270

SWEDEN 53

ESTONIA 26

MALTA 7

SWITZERLAND 47

FINLAND 47

MOLDOVA 1,138

TAJIKISTAN 1,171

FRANCE 366

MONACO 1

TURKEY 2,411

French Polynesia 1

MONTENEGRO 28

TURKMENISTAN 258

Saint Martin 1

NETHERLANDS 69

UKRAINE 4,025

St. Pierre and Miquelon 1

Aruba 4

UZBEKISTAN 3,461

GEORGIA 867

Curacao 3

VATICAN CITY 4

GERMANY 488

Sint Maarten 2

NORTH AMERICA

BAHAMAS, THE 18

OCEANIA

AUSTRALIA 777

NAURU 22

SAMOA 7

Christmas Island 3

NEW ZEALAND 242

SOLOMON ISLANDS 3

FIJI 396

Cook Islands 7

TONGA 58

KIRIBATI 9

Tokelau 3

TUVALU 0

MARSHALL ISLANDS 0

PALAU 2

VANUATU 0

MICRONESIA, FEDERATED STATES OF 1

PAPUA NEW GUINEA 8

SOUTH AMERICA, CENTRAL AMERICA, AND THE CARIBBEAN

ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA 4

DOMINICA 3

PARAGUAY 5

ARGENTINA 81

ECUADOR 224

SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS 0

BARBADOS 4

GRENADA 2

SAINT LUCIA 0

BELIZE 0

GUATEMALA 50

SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES 4

BOLIVIA 19

GUYANA 6

SURINAME 0

CHILE 41

HONDURAS 44

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO 33

COSTA RICA 28

NICARAGUA 15

URUGUAY 8

CUBA 326

PANAMA 3

VENEZUELA 1,282

Natives of the following countries were not eligible to participate in DV-2019: Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China (mainland-born, excluding Hong Kong S.A.R., Macau, and Taiwan), Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and Vietnam.