The number of visas that are available for immigrants coming to the United States is limited under the law. The limitations are determined annually and then a monthly visa bulliten is published based on the number of visas used. The visa bulletin is used to determine when a visa is available. As an example this is the visa bulliten for September 2023.
The Department of State has determined the Family and Employment preference numerical limits for FY-2023 in accordance with the terms of Section 201 of the INA. Under INA Section 202(a), the per-country limit is fixed at 7% of the family and employment annual limits. For FY-2023 the per-country limit is 29,616. The dependent area annual limit is 2%, or 8,462. These numerical limitations for FY-2023 are as follows:
Worldwide Family-Sponsored preference limit: 226,000
Worldwide Employment-Based preference limit: 197,091
STATUTORY NUMBERS FOR PREFERENCE IMMIGRANT VISAS
This bulletin summarizes the availability of immigrant numbers during September 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 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.
IMMEDIATE RELATIVES
Immediate relative petitions are not subject to the family-sponsor preferences. Immediate relative visas are available once approved. Immediate relatives are considered to be:
- The spouse of a U.S. citizen;
- The unmarried child under 21 years of age of a U.S. citizen; or
- The parent of a U.S. citizen (if the U.S. citizen is 21 years of age or older).
FAMILY-SPONSORED PREFERENCES
All other family-sponsored visas are in preference categories. The preference categories will determine when the visa will become available. The family-sponsored preference categories are as follows:
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.
September 2023
FINAL ACTION DATES FOR FAMILY-SPONSORED PREFERENCE CASES
| Family- Sponsored | All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed | CHINA-mainland born | INDIA | MEXICO | PHILIPPINES |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F1 | 01JAN15 | 01JAN15 | 01JAN15 | 22APR01 | 01MAR12 |
| F2A | 01JAN18 | 01JAN18 | 01JAN18 | 01SEP16 | 01JAN18 |
| F2B | 22SEP15 | 22SEP15 | 22SEP15 | 01AUG01 | 22OCT11 |
| F3 | 08JAN09 | 08JAN09 | 08JAN09 | 15JAN98 | 08JUN02 |
| F4 | 22APR07 | 22APR07 | 15SEP05 | 01AUG00 | 22AUG02 |
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin.html
EMPLOYMENT-BASED PREFERENCES
First: Priority Workers: 28.6% of the worldwide employment-based preference level, plus any numbers not required for fourth and fifth preferences.
Second: Members of the Professions Holding Advanced Degrees or Persons of Exceptional Ability: 28.6% of the worldwide employment-based preference level, plus any numbers not required by first preference.
Third: Skilled Workers, Professionals, and Other Workers: 28.6% of the worldwide level, plus any numbers not required by first and second preferences, not more than 10,000 of which to “*Other Workers”.
Fourth: Certain Special Immigrants: 7.1% of the worldwide level.
***Special Immigrant Juvenile I-360 Petitions also use this preference category, read more.
Fifth: Employment Creation: 7.1% of the worldwide level, of which 32% are reserved as follows: 20% reserved for qualified immigrants who invest in a rural area; 10% reserved for qualified immigrants who invest in a high unemployment area; and 2% reserved for qualified immigrants who invest in infrastructure projects. The remaining 68% are unreserved and are allotted for all other qualified immigrants.
FINAL ACTION DATES FOR EMPLOYMENT-BASED PREFERENCE CASES
| Employment- based | All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed | CHINA- mainland born | INDIA | MEXICO | PHILIPPINES |
| 1st | 01AUG23 | 01FEB22 | 01JAN12 | 01AUG23 | 01AUG23 |
| 2nd | 01JUL22 | 08JUL19 | 01JAN11 | 01JUL22 | 01JUL22 |
| 3rd | 01MAY20 | 01SEP19 | 01JAN09 | 01MAY20 | 01MAY20 |
| Other Workers | 01MAY20 | 01SEP15 | 01JAN09 | 01MAY20 | 01MAY20 |
| 4th | 01SEP18 | 01SEP18 | 01SEP18 | 01SEP18 | 01SEP18 |
| Certain Religious Workers | 01SEP18 | 01SEP18 | 01SEP18 | 01SEP18 | 01SEP18 |
| 5th Unreserved (including C5, T5, I5, R5) | C | 08SEP15 | 01APR17 | C | C |
| 5th Set Aside: Rural (20%) | C | C | C | C | C |
| 5th Set Aside: High Unemployment (10%) | C | C | C | C | C |
| 5th Set Aside: Infrastructure (2%) | C | C | C | C | C |
DIVERSITY VISAS
DIVERSITY IMMIGRANT (DV) CATEGORY FOR THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER
Section 203(c) of the INA provides up to 55,000 immigrant visas each fiscal year to permit additional immigration opportunities for persons from countries with low admissions during the previous five years. The NACARA 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 will result in reduction of the DV-2023 annual limit to approximately 54,833. 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 September, immigrant numbers in the DV category are available to qualified DV-2023 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 | Except: Algeria 45,000 Egypt 43,200 Morocco 63,400 |
| ASIA | 21,000 | Except: Iran 16,000 Nepal 21,000 |
| EUROPE | 32,000 | Except: Russia 32,000 Uzbekistan 17,000 |
| NORTH AMERICA (BAHAMAS) | Current | |
| OCEANIA | 2,500 | |
| SOUTH AMERICA, and the CARIBBEAN | 3,150 |
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-2023 program ends as of September 30, 2023. DV visas may not be issued to DV-2023 applicants after that date. Similarly, spouses and children accompanying or following to join DV-2023 principals are only entitled to derivative DV status until September 30, 2023. DV visa availability through the very end of FY-2023 cannot be taken for granted. Numbers could be exhausted prior to September 30.
The following is the statistical breakdown by foreign state of chargeability of those registered for the DV-2024 program:
| AFRICA | ||
| ALGERIA 5,142 | ERITREA 211 | MOZAMBIQUE 7 |
| ANGOLA 582 | ESWATINI 2 | NAMIBIA 10 |
| BENIN 1,002 | ETHIOPIA 3,034 | NIGER 93 |
| BOTSWANA 16 | GABON 86 | RWANDA 1,604 |
| BURKINA FASO 191 | GAMBIA, THE 156 | SENEGAL 504 |
| BURUNDI 876 | GHANA 2,088 | SIERRA LEONE 735 |
| CABO VERDE 15 | GUINEA 1,362 | SOMALIA 2,383 |
| CAMEROON 3,485 | GUINEA-BISSAU 21 | SOUTH AFRICA 199 |
| CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC 30 | KENYA 3,760 | SOUTH SUDAN 59 |
| CHAD 490 | LIBERIA 2,208 | SUDAN 5,435 |
| COMOROS 10 | LIBYA 257 | TANZANIA 348 |
| CONGO, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE 2,580 | MADAGASCAR 25 | TOGO 2,105 |
| CONGO, REPUBLIC OF THE 660 | MALAWI 42 | TUNISIA 221 |
| COTE D’IVOIRE 672 | MALI 119 | UGANDA 1,515 |
| DJIBOUTI 333 | MAURITANIA 274 | ZAMBIA 85 |
| EGYPT 5,509 | MAURITIUS 4 | ZIMBABWE 216 |
| EQUATORIAL GUINEA 19 | MOROCCO 4,250 | |
| ASIA | ||
| AFGHANISTAN 4,536 | JORDAN 1,188 | SAUDI ARABIA 619 |
| BAHRAIN 8 | KUWAIT 162 | SINGAPORE 6 |
| BHUTAN 347 | LAOS 27 | SRI LANKA 2,622 |
| BURMA 1,667 | LEBANON 214 | SYRIA 692 |
| CAMBODIA 340 | MALAYSIA 32 | TAIWAN 279 |
| INDONESIA 104 | MALDIVES 1 | THAILAND 467 |
| IRAN 5,077 | MONGOLIA 300 | UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 211 |
| IRAQ 1,348 | NEPAL 3,863 | YEMEN 3,485 |
| ISRAEL 71 | OMAN 20 | |
| JAPAN 200 | QATAR 74 | |
| EUROPE | ||
| ALBANIA 2,667 | GREECE 66 | NORWAY 9 |
| ANDORRA 2 | HUNGARY 102 | POLAND 497 |
| ARMENIA 3,869 | ICELAND 5 | PORTUGAL 39 |
| AUSTRIA 34 | IRELAND 18 | Macau 4 |
| AZERBAIJAN 2,046 | ITALY 256 | ROMANIA 267 |
| BELARUS 2,418 | KAZAKHSTAN 2,728 | RUSSIA 5,514 |
| BELGIUM 35 | KOSOVO 463 | SERBIA 186 |
| BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA 31 | KYRGYZSTAN 4,464 | SLOVAKIA 33 |
| BULGARIA 142 | LATVIA 97 | SLOVENIA 2 |
| CROATIA 30 | LITHUANIA 106 | SPAIN 137 |
| CYPRUS 25 | MALTA 1 | SWEDEN 31 |
| CZECH REPUBLIC 46 | MOLDOVA 950 | SWITZERLAND 30 |
| DENMARK 16 | MONACO 1 | TAJIKISTAN 3,580 |
| ESTONIA 33 | MONTENEGRO 21 | TURKEY 3,684 |
| FINLAND 29 | NETHERLANDS 39 | TURKMENISTAN 1,313 |
| FRANCE 327 | Aruba 1 | UKRAINE 4,286 |
| French Polynesia 1 | Curacao 1 | UZBEKISTAN 5,555 |
| New Caledonia 4 | Sint Maarten 1 | |
| GEORGIA 3,194 | NORTH MACEDONIA 258 | |
| GERMANY 466 | NORTHERN IRELAND 1 | |
| NORTH AMERICA | ||
| BAHAMAS, THE 15 | ||
| OCEANIA | ||
| AUSTRALIA 795 | NAURU 32 | SOLOMON ISLANDS 22 |
| Christmas Island 1 | NEW ZEALAND 256 | TONGA 246 |
| Cocos Keeling Islands 3 | Cook Islands 69 | TUVALU 11 |
| FEDERATED STATES OF MICRONESIA 1 | PAPUA NEW GUINEA 15 | VANUATU 29 |
| FIJI 2,936 | REPUBLIC OF PALAU 4 | |
| KIRABATI 21 | SAMOA 9 | |
| SOUTH AMERICA | ||
| ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA 1 | CUBA 3,081 | PARAGUAY 9 |
| ARGENTINA 127 | DOMINICA 6 | PERU 742 |
| BARBADOS 4 | ECUADOR 814 | SAINT LUCIA 3 |
| BELIZE 5 | GUATEMALA 146 | SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES 2 |
| BOLIVIA 85 | GUYANA 9 | TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO 37 |
| CHILE 51 | NICARAGUA 117 | URUGUAY 7 |
| COSTA RICA 68 | PANAMA 17 | |
