August 2021 Visa Bulletin Special Notes

For the official August 2021 Visa Bulletin & Analysis, please click here: https://www.mygcvisa.com/visa-bulletin/2021/visa-bulletin-august-2021.aspx

Apart from posting current dates, State Department has also added special notes to Visa Bulletin mentioned above. Please see full details below:

D. EXPIRATION OF THE EMPLOYMENT-BASED FIFTH PREFERENCE I5 and R5 REGIONAL CENTER VISA CATEGORIES

Division O, Title 1, Section 104 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 extended the immigrant investor pilot program until June 30, 2021. No I5 or R5 visas may be issued overseas or final action taken on adjustment of status cases after June 30, 2021.

The final action dates for the I5 and R5 categories have been listed as "Unavailable" for August.

If there is legislative action extending this category for August, the final action dates would immediately become "Current" for August for all countries except China-mainland born I5 and R5, which would be subject to a November 15, 2015 final action date.

E. FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION ON VISA PROCESSING AT U.S. EMBASSIES AND CONSULATES DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, PLEASE VISIT THE BUREAU OF CONSULAR AFFAIRS WEBSITE AT TRAVEL.STATE.GOV

F. @TRAVELGOV BEGINS HOSTING MONTHLY YOUTUBE LIVE "CHATS WITH CHARLIE"

@TravelGov will be hosting "Chats with Charlie" on our YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/user/TravelGov) to discuss information provided in the monthly Visa Bulletin. This month's chat is scheduled to take place on July 19, 2021 at 1:00 p.m. EST to discuss the August Visa Bulletin. Questions can be emailed to VisaBulletin@state.gov ahead of the event with "Chat with Charlie Question" in the subject line. Questions will also be taken via the YouTube Live Chat and will be answered in real-time. The event is intended to address issues of general interest related to the content of the Visa Bulletin, and no policy, case, or post specific questions will be accepted.

G. DIVERSITY VISA LOTTERY 2022 (DV-2022) RESULTS

The Kentucky Consular Center in Williamsburg, Kentucky has registered and notified the winners of the DV-2021 diversity lottery. The diversity lottery was conducted under the terms of section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act and makes available *55,000 permanent resident visas annually to persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. Approximately 119,021 applicants have been registered and notified and may now make an application for an immigrant visa. Since it is likely that some of the first *55,000 persons registered will not pursue their cases to visa issuance, this larger figure should ensure that all DV-2022 numbers will be used during fiscal year 2022 (October 1, 2021 until September 30, 2022).

Applicants registered for the DV-2022 program were selected at random from 7,336,302 qualified entries (13,191,296 with derivatives) received during the 35-day application period that ran from noon, Eastern Daylight Time on Wednesday, October 7, 2020, until noon, Eastern Daylight Time on Tuesday, November 10, 2020. The visas have been apportioned among six geographic regions with a maximum of seven percent available to persons born in any single country. During the visa interview, principal applicants must provide proof of a high school education or its equivalent, or show two years of work experience in an occupation that requires at least two years of training or experience within the past five years. Those selected will need to act on their immigrant visa applications quickly. Applicants should follow the instructions in their notification letter and must fully complete the information requested.

Registrants living legally in the United States who wish to apply for adjustment of their status must contact U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for information on the requirements and procedures. Once the total *55,000 visa numbers have been used, the program for fiscal year 2022 will end. Selected applicants who do not receive visas by September 30, 2022 will derive no further benefit from their DV-2022 registration. Similarly, spouses and children accompanying or following to join DV-2022 principal applicants are only entitled to derivative diversity visa status until September 30, 2022.

Dates for the DV-2023 program registration period will be widely publicized in the coming months. Those interested in entering the DV-2023 program should check the Department of State's Visa web page in the coming months.

*The Nicaraguan and Central American Relief Act (NACARA) passed by Congress in November 1997 stipulated that up to 5,000 of the 55,000 annually-allocated diversity visas be made available for use under the NACARA program. This will result in reduction of the DV-2022 annual limit to approximately 54,850.

The following is the statistical breakdown by foreign state of chargeability of those registered for the DV-2022 program:

AFRICA
ALGERIA 6,001	ESWATINI 1	MOZAMBIQUE 2
ANGOLA 855	ETHIOPIA 2,988	NAMIBIA 9
BENIN 735	GABON 66	NIGER 49
BOTSWANA 4	GAMBIA, THE 77	RWANDA 983
BURKINA FASO 72	GHANA 3,145	SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE 4
BURUNDI 390	GUINEA 672	SENEGAL 277
CABO VERDE 12	GUINEA-BISSAU 15	SEYCHELLES 7
CAMEROON 2,656	KENYA 2,882	SIERRA LEONE 271
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC 21	LESOTHO 8	SOMALIA 435
CHAD 231	LIBERIA 1,417	SOUTH AFRICA 497
COMOROS 10	LIBYA 311	SOUTH SUDAN 75
CONGO, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE 3,347	MADAGASCAR 19	SUDAN 6,001
CONGO, REPUBLIC OF THE 574	MALAWI 22	TANZANIA 103
COTE D'IVOIRE 597	MALI 74	TOGO 1,119
DJIBOUTI 187	MAURITANIA 158	TUNISIA 203
EGYPT 6,005	MAURITIUS 12	UGANDA 722
EQUATORIAL GUINEA 3	MOROCCO 4,138	ZAMBIA 56
ERITREA 261	Western Sahara 2	ZIMBABWE 222
ASIA
AFGHANISTAN 3,410	JORDAN 917	SAUDI ARABIA 944
BAHRAIN 15	KOREA, NORTH 0	SINGAPORE 19
BHUTAN 114	KUWAIT 222	SRI LANKA 838
BRUNEI 2	LAOS 22	SYRIA 483
BURMA 561	LEBANON 320	TAIWAN 574
CAMBODIA 1,094	MALAYSIA 44	THAILAND 186
INDONESIA 218	MALDIVES 2	TIMOR-LESTE 0
IRAN 5,739	MONGOLIA 293	UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 275
IRAQ 1,512	NEPAL 3,802	YEMEN 1,561
ISRAEL 207	OMAN 27
JAPAN 510	QATAR 90
EUROPE
ALBANIA 2,756	GREECE 42	NORTHERN IRELAND 3
ANDORRA 0	HUNGARY 100	NORWAY 10
ARMENIA 2,066	ICELAND 8	POLAND 355
AUSTRIA 36	IRELAND 24	PORTUGAL 20
AZERBAIJAN 919	ITALY 324	Macau 2
BELARUS 1,808	KAZAKHSTAN 1,978	ROMANIA 264
BELGIUM 35	KOSOVO 334	RUSSIA 6,001
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA 67	KYRGYZSTAN 1,993	SERBIA 214
BULGARIA 220	LATVIA 43	SLOVAKIA 24
CROATIA 21	LIECHTENSTEIN 0	SLOVENIA 10
CYPRUS 10	LITHUANIA 110	SPAIN 184
CZECH REPUBLIC 27	LUXEMBOURG 3	SWEDEN 32
DENMARK 15	MALTA 0	SWITZERLAND 31
ESTONIA 24	MOLDOOVA 798	TAJIKISTAN 2,122
FINLAND 28	MONACO 0	TURKEY 2,526
FRANCE 205	MONTENEGRO 48	TURKMENISTAN 745
Saint Martin 5	NETHERLANDS 34	UKRAINE 4,949
GEORGIA 1,604	Sint Maarten 2	UZBEKISTAN 6,001
GERMANY 526	NORTH MACEDONIA 293	VATICAN CITY 0

NORTH AMERICA
BAHAMAS, THE 16
OCEANIA
AUSTRALIA 1,031	MARSHALL ISLANDS 2	PALAU 30
Christmas Island 6	MICRONESIA, FEDERATED STATES OF 4	SAMOA 5
Cocos Keeling Islands 2	NAURU 9	SOLOMON ISLANDS 11
Norfolk Island 6	NEW ZEALAND 248	TONGA 133
FIJI 950	Cook Islands 19	TUVALU 4
KIRIBATI 11	PAPUA NEW GUINEA 26	VANUATU 4
SOUTH AMERICA
ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA 0	DOMINICA 3	SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS 0
ARGENTINA 146	ECUADOR 249	SAINT LUCIA 3
BARBADOS 0	GRENADA 0	SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES 0
BELIZE 0	GUYANA 5	SURINAME 4
BOLIVIA 38	NICARAGUA 18	TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO 26
CHILE 24	PANAMA 4	URUGUAY 0
COSTA RICA 8	PARAGUAY 0	VENEZUELA 1,800
CUBA 975	PERU 198

Natives of the following countries were not eligible to participate in DV-2022: Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China (including Hong Kong SAR), Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and Vietnam.