 Priority Dates likely to be moved back to August 2007! The American Immigration Lawyers Association has just reported that the cut off dates for EB-2 India and China are likely to be significantly retrogressed in either the May or the June 2012 Visa Bulletin. On March 16, 2012, at the AILA Midwest Regional Conference in Chicago, Charlie Oppenheim, Chief, Visa Control and Reporting at DOS, informed participants that he will likely retrogress India and China-mainland born Employment-Based Second Preference priority dates to around August 2007, effective with either the May or June 2012 Visa Bulletin. He also advised that he projects that all EB-1 visas available in FY2012 will be used this year, resulting in no "spilldown" to EB-2. The May Visa Bulletin will be released sometime in early April. If the Priority Dates retrogress in the May Visa Bulletin, it would take affect on May 1, 2012. If the retrogression is not included in the May Visa Bulletin, based on this information, we would expect it in the June Visa Bulletin, taking affect on June 1, 2012. We will alert readers as soon as the new Visa Bulletin is published. Unfortunately, this is not the first time the government has created artificial movement in the Visa Bulletin only to dramatically move the dates back. In 2007, the State Department made a similar move that kept many applicants in these categories waiting years for their green card applications to be processed. We understand that drastic retrogression such as this will have a significant impact on many of our readers, and we will be happy to answer questions specific to each case. However, in general, the retrogression can affect clients in a few different ways. If you fall into this category, your Priority Date is before May 1, 2010, and you have NOT filed your Adjustment Application yet, you should make arrangements with your attorney to do this as soon as possible. In some instances, this may not be possible. If your case cannot be filed before the retrogression, you will need to wait to apply for your green card until visas become available again. If you do not have an attorney, please feel free to contact our office to discuss your situation. On the other hand, if you fall into this category and your Adjustment Application has already been filed and is pending with USCIS, it is possible that it will not be processed before the retrogression takes affect. Once the priority dates are retrogressed, your case will then be put on "hold" until visas are again available for your Priority Date. This could take a substantially long time. If you have questions about how the retrogression affects your case or how to maintain your status while waiting for a green card, please contact the office to discuss possible options. | 
