VISA BULLETIN FOR FEBRUARY 2006

Number 90
Volume VIII
Washington, D.C.

VISA BULLETIN FOR FEBRUARY 2006

IMMIGRANT NUMBERS FOR FEBRUARY
2006

A.
STATUTORY NUMBERS

1. This bulletin summarizes the
availability of immigrant numbers during February. Consular officers are
required to report to the Department of State documentarily qualified applicants
for numerically limited visas; the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration
Services in the Department of Homeland Security reports applicants for
adjustment of status. Allocations were made, to the extent possible under the
numerical limitations, for the demand received by January 9th in the
chronological order of the reported priority dates. If the demand could not be
satisfied within the statutory or regulatory limits, the category or foreign
state in which demand was excessive was deemed oversubscribed. The cut-off date
for an oversubscribed category is the priority date of the first applicant who
could not be reached within the numerical limits. Only applicants who have a
priority date earlier than the cut-off date may be allotted a number.
Immediately that it becomes necessary during the monthly allocation process to
retrogress a cut-off date, supplemental requests for numbers will be honored
only if the priority date falls within the new cut-off date.

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. Section 203 of the INA prescribes
preference classes for allotment of immigrant visas as follows:

FAMILY-SPONSORED PREFERENCES

First: Unmarried Sons
and Daughters of 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, and any unused first preference numbers:

A. Spouses and Children: 77% of the
overall second preference limitation,

of which 75% are exempt from the
per-country limit;

B. Unmarried Sons and Daughters (21 years
of age or older): 23% of the overall second preference limitation.

Third: Married Sons and
Daughters of Citizens: 23,400, plus any numbers not required by first and second
preferences.

Fourth: Brothers and
Sisters of Adult Citizens: 65,000, plus any numbers not required by first three
preferences.

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”.

Schedule A Workers:
Employment First, Second, and Third preference Schedule A applicants are
entitled to up to 50,000 “recaptured” numbers.

Fourth: Certain Special
Immigrants: 7.1% of the worldwide level.

Fifth: Employment
Creation: 7.1% of the worldwide level, not less than 3,000 of which reserved for
investors in a targeted rural or high-unemployment area, and 3,000 set aside for
investors in regional centers by Sec. 610 of P.L. 102-395.

4. 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, INDIA, MEXICO, and PHILIPPINES.

5. 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.)

*NOTE: For February, 2A
numbers EXEMPT from per-country limit are available to applicants from all
countries with priority dates earlier than 15APR99. 2A numbers
SUBJECT to per-country limit are available to applicants chargeable to all
countries EXCEPT MEXICO with priority dates beginning 15APR99 and earlier than
08FEB02. (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.)

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-2006 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 February, immigrant numbers in the DV
category are available to qualified DV-2006 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:

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-2006 program ends as of September 30, 2006. DV visas may
not be issued to DV-2006 applicants after that date. Similarly, spouses and
children accompanying or following to join DV-2006 principals are only entitled
to derivative DV status until September 30, 2006. DV visa availability through
the very end of FY-2006 cannot be taken for granted. Numbers could be exhausted
prior to September 30.

C. ADVANCE NOTIFICATION OF THE
DIVERSITY (DV) IMMIGRANT CATEGORY RANK CUT-OFFS WHICH WILL APPLY IN
MARCH

For March, immigrant numbers in the DV
category are available to qualified DV-2006 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:

D. VISA AVAILABILITLY IN THE
EMPLOYMENT PREFERENCE CATEGORIES

The movement of Employment cut-off dates
during the past several months has been greater than originally anticipated.
This has been a direct result of low visa number demand by Citizenship and
Immigration Services (CIS) for adjustment of status cases. It is not possible at
present to speculate how soon CIS number use will significantly increase. Once
increased demand does materialize, however, cut-off date movements will
necessarily slow or stop.

E.
OBTAINING THE MONTHLY VISA BULLETIN

The Department of State’s Bureau of
Consular Affairs offers the monthly “Visa Bulletin” on the INTERNET’S WORLDWIDE
WEB. The INTERNET Web address to access the Bulletin is:

http://travel.state.gov

From the home page, select the VISA
section which contains the Visa Bulletin.

To be placed on the Department of State’s
E-mail subscription list for the “Visa Bulletin”, please send an E-mail to the
following E-mail address:

listserv@calist.state.gov

and in the message body type:

Subscribe Visa-Bulletin
First name/Last name

(example: Subscribe
Visa-Bulletin Sally Doe)

To be removed from the Department of
State’s E-mail subscription list for the “Visa Bulletin”, send an

e-mail message to the following E-mail
address :

listserv@calist.state.gov

and in the message body type:
Signoff Visa-Bulletin

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

Readers may submit questions regarding
Visa Bulletin related items by E-mail at the following address:

VISABULLETIN@STATE.GOV

(This address cannot be used to subscribe
to the Visa Bulletin.)

Department of State Publication
9514
CA/VO:January 9, 2006