State Dept. Announces Numerical Limits for Immigrants in FY 2012
The Department of State determines worldwide numerical limitations on visa issuances, based in part on data provided by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). On August 8, 2012, USCIS provided the required data to the Department’s Visa Office. The Department has determined that the worldwide employment-based preference limit for fiscal year 2012 is 144,951, and the family-sponsored preference limit is 226,000. The per-country limit is fixed at 7 percent of the family and employment annual limits; for FY 2012, the per-country limit is 25,967. The dependent area annual limit is 2 percent, or 7,419.