Diversity Immigrant Limits for Fiscal Year 1995

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Immigration and Naturalization Service

[INS No. 1657-94]

RIN 1115-AD69

Diversity Immigrant Limits for Fiscal Year 1995

AGENCY: Immigration and Naturalization Service, Justice.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice describes the procedures used to set the annual

regional limits under the Diversity Immigrant Program. These procedures

carry out the statutory authority of the Attorney General to determine

the allocation to up to 55,000 diversity immigrant visas each fiscal

year beginning in fiscal year 1995. This notice also describes the

formula used to reach the allocation of diversity immigrant visas for

Fiscal Year 1995, under the administration of the Department of State.

EFFECTIVE DATE: December 29, 1994.

ADDRESSES: Please submit written comments, in triplicate, to the Policy

Directives and Instructions Branch, Immigration and Naturalization

Service, 425 I Street, NW., Room 5307, Washington, DC 20536, Attn:

Public Comment Clerk. To ensure proper handling please reference to INS

No. 1657-94 on your correspondence.

Comments are available for public inspection at this address by

calling (202) 514-3048 to arrange for an appointment.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael D. Hoefer, Chief, Demographic

Statistics Branch, Immigration and Naturalization Service, Washington,

DC 20536, ATTN: Tariff Building--Room 268, Telephone (202) 376-3066.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Section 203(c)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA),

which was created by Sec. 131 of the Immigration Act of 1990 (IMMACT),

established the Diversity Immigrant Program beginning in fiscal year

1995. Up to 55,000 visas will be issued annually to natives of foreign

states from which immigration was lower than 5,000 over the preceding 5

years. The INA authorizes the Attorney General to allocate these visas

among six geographic regions, each with its own limit on visa issuance.

The formulas to calculate the limits are specified in Sec. 203(c)(1)

immigrant admissions during the most recent 5-year period, and (2)

world population estimates.

Immigrant Admission Data

Section 203(c)(1)(A) of the INA defines the immigrants admitted

during the most recent 5-year period that are used to determine the

regional limits. Included are immigrants admitted under family-

sponsored preferences, employment-based preferences, and as immediate

relatives of U.S. citizens.

Family-sponsored preference immigrants include (1) unmarried sons

and unmarried daughters of U.S. citizens (Sec. 203(c)(1) of the INA),

(2) spouses and unmarried sons and unmarried daughters of legal

permanent residents (Sec. 203(a)(2)); (3) married sons and married

daughters of U.S. citizens (Sec. 203(a)(3)); and (4) brothers and

sisters of U.S. citizens (Sec. 203(a)(4)).

Employment-based preference immigrants include (1) priority workers

(Sec. 203(b)(1) of the INA); (2) aliens who are members of the

professional holding advanced degrees or aliens of exceptional ability

(Sec. 203(b)(2)); (3) skilled workers, professionals, and other workers

(Sec. 203(b)(3)); (4) certain special immigrants (Sec. 203(b)(4)); and

(5) aliens allotted visas for employment creation (Sec. 203(b)(5)). For

immigrant admission data prior to fiscal year 1992, employment-based

preference immigrants include (1) members of the professions or of

exceptional ability (Sec. 203(a)(3) of the INA before revisions by

Secs. 111, 121(a), 131, & 162(a) of IMMACT), and (2) skilled and

unskilled immigrants (Sec. 203(a)(6) of the INA before revisions by

Secs. 111, 121(a), 131, & 162(a) of IMMACT).

Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens include (1) children, spouses,

and parents of U.S. citizens (including fiances and fiancees of U.S.

citizens and their children, and widows of U.S. citizens); (2) aliens

admitted under Sec. 211(a) of the INA on the basis of a prior issuance

of a visa to their accompanying parent who is such an immediate

relative; and (3) aliens born to an alien lawfully admitted for

permanent residence during a temporary visit abroad. Section 201(b)(2)

of the INA.

The 1995 calculations are based on the most recent available

official records of immigration collected by the U.S. Immigration and

Naturalization Service for the period including fiscal years 1988-92.

Population Estimates

The allocation of the visas to the six geographic regions is based

on each region's population. The INS will obtain population estimates

from the Center for International Research, U.S. Bureau of the Census,

as reported in their International Data Base. The Center for

International Research is the only U.S. Government source of world

population estimates. Although the Center's population estimates are

compiled in mid-year, they represent the best available statistics. For

the fiscal year 1995 calculations, mid-year 1992 population estimates

were used.

Geographic Regions

The six geographic regions subject to limitation are defined in

Section 203(c)(1)(F) of the INA as: (1) Africa, (2) Asia, (3) Europe,

(4) North America (other than Mexico), (5) Oceania, and (6) South

America, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. The countries will

be assigned to a region each year as determined by the Office of the

Geographer, U.S. Department of State. The Office of the Geographer has

assigned the countries in each of the six regions for 1995 as follows:

(1) AFRICA

Algeria

Angola

Benin

Botswana

Burkina

Burundi

Cameroon

Cape Verde

Central African Republic

Chad

Comoros

Congo

Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast)

Djibouti

Egypt

Equatorial Guinea

Eritrea

Ethiopia

Gabon

Gambia, The

Ghana

Guinea

Guinea-Bissau

Kenya

Lesotho

Liberia

Libya

Madagascar

Malawi

Mali

Mauritania

Mauritius

Morocco

Mozambique

Namibia

Niger

Nigeria

Rwanda

Sao Tome and Principe

Senegal

Seychelles

Sierra Leone

Somalia

South Africa

Sudan

Swaziland

Tanzania

Togo

Tunisia

Uganda

Zaire

Zambia

Zimbabwe

(2) ASIA

Afghanistan

Bahrain

Bangladesh

Bhutan

Brunei

Burma

Cambodia

China (mainland-born)

China (Taiwan-born) (a ``state'' within the meaning of the Act)

Hong Kong (a ``state'' within the meaning of the Act)

India

Indonesia

Iran

Iraq

Israel

Japan

Jordan

Korea, North

Korea, South

Kuwait

Laos

Lebanon

Malaysia

Maldives

Mongolia

Nepal

Oman

Pakistan

Philippines

Qatar

Saudi Arabia

Singapore

Sri Lanka

Syria

Thailand

United Arab Emirates

Vietnam

Yemen

EUROPE

Albania

Andorra

Armenia

Austria

Azerbaijan

Belarus

Belgium

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bulgaria

Croatia

Cyprus

Czech Republic

Denmark

Estonia

Finland

France

Georgia

Germany

Greece

Hungary

Iceland

Ireland

Italy

Kazakhstan

Kyrgyzstan

Latvia

Liechtenstein

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Macadonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of

Malta

Moldova

Monaco

Montenegro (a ``state'' for purposes of the Act)

Netherlands

Northern Ireland (a ``state'' within the meaning of the Act)

Norway

Poland

Portugal

Romania

Russia

San Marino

Serbia (a ``state'' for purposes of the Act)

Slovakia

Slovenia

Spain

Sweden

Switzerland

Tajikistan

Turkmenistan

Turkey

Ukraine

United Kingdom

Uzbekistan

Vatican City (an independent city under the jurisdiction of the Holy

See)

(4) NORTH AMERICA (other than Mexico)

Bahamas, The

Canada

(5) OCEANIA

Australia

Fiji

Kiribati

Marshall Islands

Micronesia, Federated States of

Nauru

New Zealand

Palau

Papua New Guinea

Solomon Islands

Tonga

Tuvalu

Vanuatu

Western Samoa

(6) SOUTH AMERICA, MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, AND THE CARIBBEAN

Antigua and Barbuda

Argentina

Barbados

Belize

Bolivia

Brazil

Chile

Colombia

Costa Rica

Cuba

Dominica

Dominican Republic

Ecuador

El Salvador

Grenada

Guatemala

Guyana

Haiti

Honduras

Jamaica

Mexico

Nicaragua

Panama

Paraguay

Peru

St. Kitts and Nevis

St. Lucia

St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Suriname

Trinidad and Tobago

Uruguay

Venezuela

1995 Regional Limits

Natives of high-admission countries, for which immigration was

greater than 50,000 during the most recent five-fiscal-year period, are

not eligible to participate in the Diversity Immigrant program. Based

on immigrant admission data for fiscal years 1988-92, natives of the

following foreign states are high-admission states in fiscal year 1995:

Canada, China (mainland-born), China (Taiwan-born), the Dominican

Republic, El Salvador, India, Jamaica, Korea (South), Mexico, the

Philippines, the United Kingdom (excluding Northern Ireland), and

Vietnam. Natives in all other countries are from low-admission states

and are allowed to participate in the 1995 Diversity Immigrant Program.

The maximum number of visas issued to natives of a single independent

country shall not exceed 7 percent of the total of 55,000, or 3,850.

Section 203(c)(1)(E)(v) of the INA.

Diversity visa allocations are determined by using one of two

formulas, one to be used to calculate allocation for states located in

``high-admission'' regions, the other to be used to calculate

allocations for states located in ``low-admission'' regions. Regions

with more than \1/6\ of the total number of immigrants admitted during

the most recent five-fiscal-year period are defined as ``high-

admission'' regions. Section 203(c)(1)(B)(i)(I) of the INA. Regions

with \1/6\ or less of the total number are defined as ``low-admission''

regions. Section 203(c)(1)(B)(i)(II). High-admission regions for fiscal

year 1995 are Asia (Region 2), and South America, Mexico, Central

America, and the Caribbean (Region 6). Low-admission regions for fiscal

year 1995 are Africa (Region 1), Europe (Region 3), North America

(other than Mexico) (Region 4), and Oceania (Region 5.

Sections 203(c)(1) (C), (D) and (E) describe the formulas to be

used to distribute the 55,000 Diversity Immigrant visas. Both formulas

exclude the population totals from the high-admission states. The

formulas are as follows:

Low-Admission Regions

TN29DE94.006

High-Admission Regions

TN29DE94.007

Where:

LAi=Limit for Low-Admission Region i

HAi=Limit for High-Admission Region i

PLAi=Population for Low-Admission Region i

PHAi=Population for High-Admission Region i

IHA=Proportion of the preference immigrants that were charged to high-

Admission Regions (including immigrant admission totals from High-

admission states)=.829 in 1995

The limits on visa issuance by region for fiscal year 1995 using

the procedures described in this notice are as follows:

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Visa

Region limit

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Africa....................................................... 20,200

Asia......................................................... 6,837

Europe....................................................... 24,549

N. America (other than Mexico)............................... 8

Oceania...................................................... 817

South America, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean.... 2,589

Total.................................................... 55,000

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As specified earlier, high-admission countries are not allowed to

participate in 1995: Canada, China (mainland-born), China (Taiwan-

born), the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, India, Jamaica, Korea

(South), Mexico, the Philippines, the United Kingdom (excluding

Northern Ireland), and Vietnam.

The regional limits and countries whose citizens are excluded from

the Diversity Immigrant program will be calculated each year based on

new immigration records and population estimates.

Dated: December 22, 1994.

Doris Meissner,

Commissioner, Immigration and Naturalization Service.

[FR Doc. 94-32029 Filed 12-28-94; 8:45 am]

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