October 2008 Visa Bulletin

September 15, 2008

Employment-Based Priority Dates

US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) usage of visa numbers has resulted in earlier priority dates than expected for October 2008. The bulletin also warns "Little if any forward movement of the cut-off dates in most Employment categories is likely until the extent of the CIS backlog of old priority dates can be determined.  It is estimated that the FY-2009 Employment-based annual limit will be very close to the 140,000 minimum."

Family-Based Priority Dates

Heavy demand for numbers in the Mexico F2A category has required the establishment of a cut-off date which is earlier than that which applied in June (after which they became “unavailable” for the remainder of FY-2008).  The Mexico F2A cut-off date for October will be 01MAY01. Forward movement during the first quarter of the new fiscal year is likely to be limited.

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.

Diversity Visa Program

The Diversity Visa (DV) lottery will open for DV-2010 entries on October 2, 2008 (noon, EST) and end on December 1, 2008 (noon, EST).  Applicants may access the electronic Diversity Visa entry form at www.dvlottery.state.gov during the registration period.  Instructions and additional information will be available at this site by mid September. For DV-2010, Russia has been added back to the list of eligible countries.  Kosovo was also added to the list of eligible countries.  No countries have been removed from the list of eligible countries for DV-2010 program.

Fraudulant Diversity Visa Websites

There have been instances of fraudulent websites posing as official U.S. Government sites.  Some companies posing as the U.S. government have sought money in order to “complete” lottery entry forms. (To learn more readers may want to consult the Federal Trade Commission Warning on this type of issue.) Applicants selected in the Diversity Visa random drawing are notified by the Department of State, Kentucky Consular Center by letter, NOT e-mail and are provided instructions on how to proceed to the next step in the process.  No other organization or company is authorized by the Department of State to notify Diversity Visa lottery applicants of their winning entry.  All applicants selected to participate in the DV-2009 program have already been notified.