The U.S. Department of State has just released the Visa Bulletin for October 2011.  EB2 India and China have advanced by three (3) months so that the current priority date* as of October will be July 15, 2007.

The bigger news is that this new cut-off date is approaching the most favorable date previously reached for applicants from China and India. The rapid forward movement is intended to generate

demand based on new filings for adjustment of status at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services offices, which currently accounts for over 85% of all Employment-based number use.

Once the level of demand increases sufficiently, it may be necessary to slow or stop the cut-off movement, and a retrogression of the cut-offs at some point during the year is a distinct possibility.

So, individuals with approved I-140s whose priority date will become current in October, should start preparations for filing their I-485 applications in October as visa numbers may later retrogress.

 * The priority date represents the date that an employer files a Labor Certification Application with the U.S. Department of Labor (also known as a PERM application) on behalf of an individual.  This date marks the individual's place in line for an immigrant visa number and controls when the individual is permitted to file the last application in the process of seeking U.S. Permanent Residence.  So, an individual may not commence the last stage in the green card process until his/her priority date is current.