how many green cards allocated per year
Both family and employment preference-based green cards are affected by these quotas. Green cards allocated annually to employment-based categories, including investors and Special Immigrants, number 140,000 worldwide. Approximately 480,000 green cards worldwide can be issued each year in the family categories. Only 7% of all worldwide preference visas can be given to persons born in any one country. There are, therefore, two separate quotas: one for each country and one that is worldwide.