September 2020 Visa Bulletin Commentary

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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