November 2006 Visa Bulletin -- U.S. Department Of State

The U.S. Department of State has issued the Visa Bulletin for November. You can see the entire bulletin at the State Department Web site. We have copied important sections below:

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.)

Fam-ily All Charge- ability Areas Except Those Listed CHINA-mainland born INDIA MEXICO PHILIPP-INES
1st 22APR01 22APR01 22APR01 01JUL93 15NOV91
2A 01SEP01 01SEP01 01SEP01 01DEC99 01SEP01
2B 01FEB97 01FEB97 01FEB97 22FEB92 15AUG96
3rd 15NOV98 15NOV98 15NOV98 01JAN95 08FEB91
4th 22OCT95 22APR95 01AUG95 22OCT93 01MAY84

*NOTE: For November, 2A numbers EXEMPT from per-country limit are available to applicants from all countries with priority dates earlier than 01DEC99. 2A numbers SUBJECT to per-country limit are available to applicants chargeable to all countries EXCEPT  MEXICO with priority dates beginning 01DEC99 and earlier than 01SEP01. (All 2A numbers provided for MEXICO are exempt from the per-country limit; there are no 2A numbers for MEXICO subject to per-country limit.)

Employ-ment
-Based
All
Charge-ability
Areas
Except
Those
Listed
CHINA-
mainland born
INDIA MEXICO PHILIP-PINES
1st C C C C C
2nd C 15APR05 01JAN03 C C
3rd 01JUL02 01JUL02 22APR01 08MAY01 01JUL02
Schedule
A
Workers
01OCT05 01OCT05 01OCT05 01OCT05 01OCT05
Other
Workers
01MAY01 01MAY01 01MAY01 01MAY01 01MAY01
4th C C C C C
Certain Religious Workers C C C C C
5th C C C C C
Targeted Employ-ment Areas/
Regional Centers
C C C C C

The Department of State has available a recorded message with visa availability information which can be heard at: (area code 202) 663-1541. This recording will be updated in the middle of each month with information on cut-off dates for the following month.

Employment Third Preference Other Workers Category: Section 203(e) of the NACARA, as amended by Section 1(e) of Pub. L. 105 - 139, provides that once the Employment Third Preference Other Worker (EW) cut-off date has reached the priority date of the latest EW petition approved prior to November 19, 1997, the 10,000 EW numbers available for a fiscal year are to be reduced by up to 5,000 annually beginning in the following fiscal year. This reduction is to be made for as long as necessary to offset adjustments under the NACARA program. Since the EW cut-off date reached November 19, 1997 during Fiscal Year 2001, the reduction in the EW annual limit to 5,000 began in Fiscal Year 2002.

B. DIVERSITY IMMIGRANT (DV) CATEGORY

Section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act provides a maximum of up to 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. The Nicaraguan and Central American Relief Act (NACARA) passed by Congress in November 1997 stipulates that beginning with DV-99, and for as long as necessary, up to 5,000 of the 55,000 annually-allocated diversity visas will be made available for use under the NACARA program. This reduction has resulted in the DV-2007 annual limit being reduced to 50,000. DV visas are divided among six geographic regions. No one country can receive more than seven percent of the available diversity visas in any one year.

For November, immigrant numbers in the DV category are available to qualified DV-2007 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:

RegionAll DV Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed Separately
AFRICA 8,500 Except:
Egypt
5,600
Ethiopia
5,600
Nigeria
4,300
ASIA 2,600
EUROPE 5,700
NORTH AMERICA (BAHAMAS) 6
OCEANIA 280
SOUTH AMERICA, and the CARIBBEAN 350

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-2007 program ends as of September 30, 2007. DV visas may not be issued to DV-2007 applicants after that date. Similarly, spouses and children accompanying or following to join DV-2007 principals are only entitled to derivative DV status until September 30, 2007. DV visa availability through the very end of FY-2007 cannot be taken for granted. Numbers could be exhausted prior to September 30.

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