Labor Immigration Law

Our office has been able to confirm what we have suspected for a few weeks.  Many of our readers are aware that the significant forward movement in the cutoff dates for the EB-2 India and China categories over the past few months has caused a significant number of demand and I-485 filings.     USCIS has been able to approve a number of I-485 adjustment of status applications for nationals of India and China — as a result, as of April 11, 2012, the Department of State has reached the annual limit in the EB-2 India and China categories.

No Green Card Approvals Until October 1, 2012

As a result of reaching the annual limit in the visa numbers in the EB-2 India and China categories, no new green cards numbers will be authorized by the Department of State for this fiscal year.   Starting October 1, 2012, when the new fiscal year starts (and the quotas reset), the government will continue processing and approving pending cases.

Pending I-485 Cases Unaffected; New I-485 Cases Can Still be Filed

Even though no new green card numbers will be authorized (and green cards approved), pending I-485 cases will remain unaffected — they will be subject to preadjudication and will remain pending until a visa number becomes available.   Additionally, applicants who have current priority dates as of the April and May 2012 Visa Bulletin would still be able to file I-485 adjustment of status applications.

Further Updates and News

We invite you to subscribe to our free weekly immigration newsletter to receive timely updates on this and related topics.  We also invite you to contact us if our office can be of any assistance in your immigration matters or you have any questions or comments about this alert or the May 2012 Visa Bulletin.  Finally, if you already haven’t already, please consider our Visa Bulletin Predictions tool which provides personalized predictions and charts helping you understand when a particular priority date may become current and what are the movement patterns.