The September 2020 Visa Bulletin was released yesterday. Nothing major to report this month as they was very little (if any) movement in most categories. However, this is not entirely unexpected as September is the last month of the fiscal year and most visa numbers are used up by then. We should expect to see some movement in next month’s visa bulletin, at the start of the new fiscal year. Of course, with the impending USCIS staff furloughs, the future is uncertain.
Commentary:
September 2020
For all countries except India, China, Philippines, and Mexico: F2A category priority date remains current, F2B preference advances 30 days to a PD of 8 July 2015, F4 category advances 14 days to 22 September 2006; EB1 remains current; EB2 remains current; and EB3 remains at a PD of 1 April 2019.
For India only: F2A category remains current, F2B preference advances 30 days to 8 July 2015, F4 advances 15 days to a PD of 8 March 2005; EB1 advances 21 days to a PD of 1 March 2018; EB2 remains at 8 July 2009; EB3 remains at a PD of 1 October 2009; EB5 Non-Regional Center and Regional Center remain current.
For China only: EB1 advances 21 days to a PD of 1 March 2018; EB2 remains at a PD of 15 January 2016; EB3 remains at a PD of 15 February 2017; EB5 Non-Regional Center and Regional Center advances 7 days to a PD of 15 August 2015.
For Vietnam only: EB5 Non-Regional Center and Regional Center advances 10 days to a PD of 1 August 2017.
Can file your immigrant applications if PD before:
F2A 1 August 2020; F2B 1 May 2016 for All Areas, except 1 December 1999 for Mexico and 1 April 2012 for Philippines; F4 15 September 2007 for All Areas, except 22 November 2005 for India, 22 April 1999 for Mexico, and 1 September 2002 for Philippines.
EB1 Current for all countries, except 1 July 2018 for China and 1 July 2018 for India; EB2 All countries except India and China are current; EB3 1 April 2020 for all countries except India, China, and Philippines; EB2 India remains at 15 August 2009; EB3 India remains at 1 February 2010; EB2 China remains at 1 August 2016; EB3 China remains at 1 May 2017; EB5 China (RC and Non-RC) remains at 15 December 2015; Vietnam is not individually listed and should use the all countries category.
Notes copied from the Department of State regarding Visa availability:
D. FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION ON VISA PROCESSING AT U.S. EMBASSIES AND CONSULATES DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, PLEASE VISIT THE BUREAU OF CONSULAR AFFAIRS WEBSITE AT TRAVEL.STATE.GOV
E. DIVERSITY VISA LOTTERY 2021 (DV-2021) RESULTS
The Kentucky Consular Center in Williamsburg, Kentucky has registered and notified the winners of the DV-2021 diversity lottery. The diversity lottery was conducted under the terms of section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act and makes available *55,000 permanent resident visas annually to persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. Approximately 132,404 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 *55,000 persons registered will not pursue their cases to visa issuance, this larger figure should insure that all DV-2021 numbers will be used during fiscal year 2021 (October 1, 2020 until September 30, 2021).
Applicants registered for the DV-2021 program were selected at random from 6,741,128 qualified entries (11,830,707 with derivatives) received during the 35-day application period that ran from noon, Eastern Daylight Time on Wednesday, October 2, 2019, until noon, Eastern Daylight Time on Wednesday, November 6, 2019. 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 *55,000 visa numbers have been used, the program for fiscal year 2021 will end. Selected applicants who do not receive visas by September 30, 2021 will derive no further benefit from their DV-2021 registration. Similarly, spouses and children accompanying or following to join DV-2021 principal applicants are only entitled to derivative diversity visa status until September 30, 2021.
Dates for the DV-2022 program registration period will be widely publicized in the coming months. Those interested in entering the DV-2022 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. This will result in reduction of the DV-2021 annual limit to approximately 54,750.
The following is the statistical breakdown by foreign state of chargeability of those registered for the DV-2021 program:
| AFRICA | ||
| ALGERIA 6,001 | ESWATINI 3 | NAMIBIA 0 |
| ANGOLA 627 | ETHIOPIA 3,957 | NIGER 55 |
| BENIN 830 | GABON 65 | RWANDA 1,067 |
| BOTSWANA 3 | GAMBIA, THE 71 | SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE 0 |
| BURKINA FASO 83 | GHANA 3,284 | SENEGAL 167 |
| BURUNDI 398 | GUINEA 805 | SEYCHELLES 4 |
| CABO VERDE 6 | GUINEA-BISSAU 7 | SIERRA LEONE 504 |
| CAMEROON 3,686 | KENYA 2,777 | SOMALIA 217 |
| CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC 22 | LESOTHO 3 | SOUTH AFRICA 510 |
| CHAD 191 | LIBERIA 1,858 | SOUTH SUDAN 40 |
| COMOROS 10 | LIBYA 259 | SUDAN 6,001 |
| CONGO, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE 4,503 | MADAGASCAR 23 | TANZANIA 184 |
| CONGO, REPUBLIC OF THE 740 | MALAWI 32 | TOGO 1,118 |
| COTE D’IVOIRE 737 | MALI 103 | TUNISIA 173 |
| DJIBOUTI 175 | MAURITANIA 105 | UGANDA 908 |
| EGYPT 6,002 | MAURITIUS 12 | ZAMBIA 67 |
| EQUATORIAL GUINEA 6 | MOROCCO 4,458 | ZIMBABWE 276 |
| ERITREA 509 | MOZAMBIQUE 7 | |
| ASIA | ||
| AFGHANISTAN 2,189 | JAPAN 532 | QATAR 82 |
| BAHRAIN 19 | JORDAN 1,578 | SAUDI ARABIA 1,126 |
| BHUTAN 69 | KOREA, NORTH 3 | SINGAPORE 40 |
| BRUNEI 1 | KUWAIT 302 | SRI LANKA 1,566 |
| BURMA 776 | LAOS 43 | SYRIA 487 |
| CAMBODIA 1,174 | LEBANON 249 | TAIWAN 693 |
| HONG KONG S.A.R. 569 | MALAYSIA 95 | THAILAND 290 |
| INDONESIA 317 | MALDIVES 0 | TIMOR-LESTE 0 |
| IRAN 6,001 | MONGOLIA 496 | UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 282 |
| IRAQ 1,184 | NEPAL 3,801 | YEMEN 1,222 |
| ISRAEL 190 | OMAN 32 | |
| EUROPE | ||
| ALBANIA 3,962 | GREECE 71 | NORTHERN IRELAND 4 |
| ANDORRA 0 | HUNGARY 93 | NORWAY 7 |
| ARMENIA 2,293 | ICELAND 11 | POLAND 383 |
| AUSTRIA 35 | IRELAND 29 | PORTUGAL 24 |
| AZERBAIJAN 1,439 | ITALY 289 | Macau 6 |
| BELARUS 2,143 | KAZAKHSTAN 2,406 | ROMANIA 365 |
| BELGIUM 32 | KOSOVO 311 | RUSSIA 6,001 |
| BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA 36 | KYRGYZSTAN 2,130 | SERBIA 239 |
| BULGARIA 348 | LATVIA 63 | SLOVAKIA 23 |
| CROATIA 32 | LIECHTENSTEIN 1 | SLOVENIA 6 |
| CYPRUS 2 | LITHUANIA 180 | SPAIN 114 |
| CZECH REPUBLIC 44 | LUXEMBOURG 0 | SWEDEN 41 |
| DENMARK 24 | MALTA 5 | SWITZERLAND 48 |
| ESTONIA 18 | MOLDOOVA 1,565 | TAJIKISTAN 2,332 |
| FINLAND 26 | MONACO 1 | TURKEY 2,874 |
| FRANCE 272 | MONTENEGRO 33 | TURKMENISTAN 870 |
| Saint Martin 6 | NETHERLANDS 43 | UKRAINE 5,604 |
| GEORGIA 1,899 | Curacao 1 | UZBEKISTAN 5,319 |
| GERMANY 563 | NORTH MACEDONIA 336 | VATICAN CITY 0 |
| NORTH AMERICA | ||
| BAHAMAS, THE 29 | ||
| OCEANIA | ||
| AUSTRALIA 1,130 | NAURU 11 | SAMOA 8 |
| Cocos Keeling Islands 19 | NEW ZEALAND 360 | SOLOMON ISLANDS 4 |
| FIJI 1,087 | Cook Islands 32 | TONGA 95 |
| KIRIBATI 12 | Tokelau 5 | TUVALU 2 |
| MARSHALL ISLANDS 0 | PAPUA NEW GUINEA 29 | VANUATU 7 |
| MICRONESIA, FEDERATED STATES OF 9 |
PALAU 5 | |
| SOUTH AMERICA | ||
| ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA 5 | DOMINICA 3 | PERU 1,559 |
| ARGENTINA 191 | ECUADOR 246 | SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS 1 |
| BARBADOS 5 | GRENADA 1 | SAINT LUCIA 2 |
| BELIZE 8 | GUYANA 5 | SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES 3 |
| BOLIVIA 38 | HONDURAS 74 | SURINAME 4 |
| CHILE 36 | NICARAGUA 69 | TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO 44 |
| COSTA RICA 68 | PANAMA 10 | URUGUAY 19 |
| CUBA 1,235 | PARAGUAY 3 | VENEZUELA 1,872 |
Natives of the following countries were not eligible to participate in DV-2021: Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China (mainland-born), Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and Vietnam.
F. DETERMINATION OF THE NUMERICAL LIMITS ON IMMIGRANTS REQUIRED UNDER THE TERMS OF THE IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY ACT (INA)
The State Department is required to make the determination of the worldwide numerical limitations, as outlined in Section 201(c) and (d) of the INA, on an annual basis. These calculations are based in part on data provided by U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS) regarding the number of immediate relative adjustments in the preceding year and the number of aliens paroled into the United States under Section 212(d)(5) in the second preceding year. Without this information, it is impossible to make an official determination of the annual limits. To avoid delays in processing while waiting for the USCIS data, the Visa Office (VO) bases allocations on the minimum annual limits outlined in Section 201 of the INA. On July 31st, USCIS provided the required data to VO.
The Department of State has determined the Family and Employment preference numerical limits for FY-2020 in accordance with the terms of Section 201 of the INA. These numerical limitations for FY-2020 are as follows:
Worldwide Family-Sponsored preference limit: 226,000
Worldwide Employment-Based preference limit: 156,253
Under INA Section 202(a), the per-country limit is fixed at 7% of the family and employment annual limits. For FY-2020 the per-country limit is 26,758. The dependent area annual limit is 2%, or 7,645.
Notes from Tahmina:
In light of the No-RFE memo as well the NTA memos, it is important that those waiting to receive their green cards maintain their underlying visa status.
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