September 2016 Visa Bulletin

D.  DETERMINATION OF THE NUMERICAL LIMITS ON IMMIGRANTS REQUIRED UNDER THE TERMS OF IMMIGRATION AND  NATIONALITY ACT (INA)

The State Department is required to make a determination of the worldwide numerical limitations, as outlined in Section 201(c) and (d) of the INA, on an annual basis.  These calculations are based in part on data provided by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) regarding the number of immediate relative adjustments in the preceding year and the number of aliens paroled into the United States under Section 212(d)(5) in the second preceding year.  Without this information, it is impossible to make an official determination of the annual limits.  To avoid delays in processing while waiting for the USCIS data, the Visa Office (VO) bases allocations on the minimum annual limits outlined in Section 201 of the INA.  On July 21st, USCIS provided the required data to VO.

The Department of State has determined the Family and Employment preference numerical limits for FY-2016 in accordance with the terms of Section 201 of the INA.  These numerical limitations for FY-2016 are as follows:

    Worldwide Family-Sponsored preference limit:           226,000
    Worldwide Employment-Based preference limit:         140,338

Under INA Section 202(a), the per-country limit is fixed at 7% of the family and employment annual limits.  For FY-2016 the per-country limit is 25,644.  The dependent area annual limit is 2%, or 7,327.