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

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