What US INA Allocation of Immigrant Visas (8 USC 1153): Family, Employment and Diversity Preferences requires
Section 203 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), codified at 8 U.S.C. 1153, allocates immigrant visas among the preference categories, administered by US Citizenship and Immigration Services (petitions) and the Department of State (visa issuance and the monthly Visa Bulletin). Section 1153(a) sets the family-sponsored preferences within the worldwide level: the first preference covers unmarried sons and daughters of citizens (not to exceed 23,400 plus certain spillover); the second preference covers spouses, children, and unmarried sons and daughters of permanent resident aliens (not to exceed 114,200, divided between the 2A and 2B subcategories); the third preference covers married sons and married daughters of citizens (not to exceed 23,400); and the fourth preference covers brothers and sisters of citizens (not to exceed 65,000). Section 1153(b) sets the employment-based preferences: the first preference covers priority workers (aliens of extraordinary ability, outstanding professors and researchers, and certain multinational executives and managers); the second preference covers members of the professions holding advanced degrees or aliens of exceptional ability; the third preference covers skilled workers, professionals, and other workers; the fourth preference covers certain special immigrants (not to exceed 7.1 percent of the worldwide level); and the fifth preference covers employment creation (the EB-5 investor category) through new commercial enterprises that create the required jobs. Section 1153(c) provides for diversity immigrants selected from low-admission countries, who must have at least a high school education or its equivalent or qualifying work experience. Section 1153(e) sets the order of consideration: within each preference, visas are issued to eligible immigrants in the order in which a petition is filed, except that diversity visas are issued in a strictly random order. Correctly classifying a beneficiary into the right preference category determines eligibility, the controlling priority date, and the wait under the per-category and per-country limits.
Pillar: Immigration & Border Control · Authority: US Congress / US Citizenship and Immigration Services and Department of State · Version: 1.0.0 · Last updated:
Primary source: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2022-title8/html/USCODE-2022-title8-chap12.htm
SHA-256 integrity: 6d0b87939ee53b3a09d9f34ef4d90f39e516b1380de9bc0f2527663503177a0d
Primary Citations — 8 traced to source
- Immigration and Nationality Act 203, 8 U.S.C. 1153(a)(1) - first family-sponsored preference: unmarried sons and daughters of citizens (not to exceed 23,400).
- Immigration and Nationality Act 203, 8 U.S.C. 1153(a)(2) - second family-sponsored preference: spouses, children, and unmarried sons and daughters of permanent resident aliens (not to exceed 114,200).
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