August 2019 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 5th . 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-2019 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

CURRENT

ASIA

CURRENT

EUROPE

CURRENT

NORTH AMERICA (BAHAMAS)

CURRENT

OCEANIA

CURRENT

SOUTH AMERICA,

and the CARIBBEAN

CURRENT

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

From the bulletin:

There has been a steadily increasing level of Employment applicant demand since late May for adjustment of status cases filed with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and there is no indication that this increase will end. Therefore, it has been necessary to establish or retrogress many of the August Final Action Dates in an effort to hold worldwide number use within the maximum allowed under the respective FY-2019 annual limits.

The implementation of the above mentioned dates is expected to be only a temporary issue. For October, the first month of fiscal year 2020, every effort will be made to return these final action dates to those which applied for July.

In plain words: “retrogress” means move back; “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-2020 diversity lottery. The diversity lottery was conducted under the terms of section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act and makes available up to 55,000 permanent resident visas annually to persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. Approximately 83,884 applicants have been registered and notified and may now make an application for an immigrant visa. Since it is likely that some of the persons registered will not pursue their cases to visa issuance, this larger figure should insure that all DV-2020 numbers will be used during fiscal year 2020 (October 1, 2019 until September 30, 2020).

Applicants registered for the DV-2020 program were selected at random from 14,722,798 qualified entries (23,182,554 with derivatives) received during the 34-day application period that ran from noon, Eastern Daylight Time on Wednesday, October 3, 2018, until noon, Eastern Daylight Time on Wednesday, November 6, 2018. 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 available visa numbers have been used, the program for fiscal year 2020 will end. Selected applicants who do not receive visas by September 30, 2020 will derive no further benefit from their DV-2020 registration. Similarly, spouses and children accompanying or following to join DV-2020 principal applicants are only entitled to derivative diversity visa status until September 30, 2020.

Dates for the DV-2021 program registration period will be widely publicized in the coming months. Those interested in entering the DV-2021 program should check the Department of State’s Visa web page in the coming months.

The following is the statistical breakdown by foreign state of chargeability of those registered for the DV-2020 program:

AFRICA

ALGERIA 2,745

ESWATINI 0

NAMIBIA 6

ANGOLA 150

ETHIOPIA 1,974

NIGER 31

BENIN 443

GABON 34

RWANDA 603

BOTSWANA 2

GAMBIA, THE 25

SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE 0

BURKINA FASO 84

GHANA 1,343

SENEGAL 91

BURUNDI 228

GUINEA 271

SEYCHELLES 1

CABO VERDE 10

GUINEA-BISSAU 2

SIERRA LEONE 217

CAMEROON 1,589

KENYA 1,801

SOMALIA 72

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC 5

LESOTHO 0

SOUTH AFRICA 162

CHAD 93

LIBERIA 1,142

SOUTH SUDAN 23

COMOROS 1

LIBYA 102

SUDAN 3,691

CONGO, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE 4,743

MADAGASCAR 9

TANZANIA 72

CONGO, REPUBLIC OF THE 258

MALAWI 4

TOGO 600

COTE D’IVOIRE 364

MALI 30

TUNISIA 82

DJIBOUTI 59

MAURITANIA 25

UGANDA 374

EGYPT 5,568

MAURITIUS 4

ZAMBIA 12

EQUATORIAL GUINEA 5

MOROCCO 2,202

ZIMBABWE 61

ERITREA 140

MOZAMBIQUE 9

ASIA

AFGHANISTAN 981

JAPAN 333

QATAR 72

BAHRAIN 10

JORDAN 633

SAUDI ARABIA 699

BHUTAN 27

KOREA, NORTH 11

SINGAPORE 15

BRUNEI 1

KUWAIT 165

SRI LANKA 765

BURMA 444

LAOS 64

SYRIA 265

CAMBODIA 790

LEBANON 135

TAIWAN 476

HONG KONG S.A.R. 92

MALAYSIA 68

THAILAND 127

INDONESIA 194

MALDIVES 2

TIMOR-LESTE 0

IRAN 4,101

MONGOLIA 265

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 206

IRAQ 615

NEPAL 3,696

YEMEN 550

ISRAEL 128

OMAN 11

EUROPE

ALBANIA 3,603

GREECE 48

NORTHERN IRELAND 13

ANDORRA 8

HUNGARY 84

NORWAY 12

ARMENIA 1,422

ICELAND 0

POLAND 384

AUSTRIA 38

IRELAND 19

PORTUGAL 12

AZERBAIJAN 899

ITALY 220

Macau 5

BELARUS 1,512

KAZAKHSTAN 1,584

ROMANIA 311

BELGIUM 32

KOSOVO 260

RUSSIA 5,118

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA 40

KYRGYZSTAN 1,223

SERBIA 210

BULGARIA 343

LATVIA 68

SLOVAKIA 30

CROATIA 40

LIECHTENSTEIN 0

SLOVENIA 4

CYPRUS 5

LITHUANIA 151

SPAIN 99

CZECH REPUBLIC 31

LUXEMBOURG 0

SWEDEN 36

DENMARK 17

MACEDONIA 249

SWITZERLAND 49

ESTONIA 30

MALTA 6

TAJIKISTAN 1,401

FINLAND 15

MOLDOOVA 1,112

TURKEY 2,709

FRANCE 212

MONACO 3

TURKMENISTAN 515

New Caledonia 3

MONTENEGRO 35

UKRAINE 3,313

GEORGIA 1,131

NETHERLANDS 56

UZBEKISTAN 1,743

GERMANY 328

Aruba 3

VATICAN CITY 0

NORTH AMERICA

BAHAMAS, THE 20

OCEANIA

AUSTRALIA 647

MICRONESIA, FEDERATED

STATES OF 0

SAMOA 4

Christmas Island 2

NAURU 6

SOLOMON ISLANDS 4

Cocos Keeling Islands 9

NEW ZEALAND 181

TONGA 42

Norfolk Island 1

Cook Islands 15

TUVALU 0

FIJI 435

Tokelau 1

VANUATU 7

KIRIBATI 12

PAPUA NEW GUINEA 11

MARSHALL ISLANDS 0

PALAU 1

SOUTH AMERICA

ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA 1

DOMINICA 0

PARAGUAY 9

ARGENTINA 30

ECUADOR 134

SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS 0

BARBADOS 1

GRENADA 0

SAINT LUCIA 0

BELIZE 2

GUATEMALA 60

SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES 0

BOLIVIA 22

GUYANA 3

SURINAME 0

CHILE 21

HONDURAS 58

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO 19

COSTA RICA 12

NICARAGUA 23

URUGUAY 15

CUBA 2,703

PANAMA 8

VENEZUELA 1,068

Natives of the following countries were not eligible to participate in DV-2020: Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China (mainland-born), 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.