Frustrating Visa Retrogression News for EB-2 Indian Nationals - EB-2 Visas Cut Off Through September

In a rare but not unprecedented move as the government’s fiscal year comes to a close, the Department of State’s visa number crunching guru Charlie Oppenheim announced on September 10, 2014, that, effective immediately, the EB-2 India category is unavailable until the end of the fiscal year (September 30, 2014).

 

What this means for employers and EB-2 Indian nationals waiting for AOS adjudications this month or who are just about to file AOS cases:

• EB-2 Indian nationals with priority dates of January 22, 2009 or earlier may still file the AOS cases for receipt this month.   By regulation, the government must continue to accept these cases, but the government will not process them until their priority dates become current again.

• We understand from the State Department that the October Visa Bulletin’s May 1, 2009 cut-off date for EB-2 Indian nationals should remain unchanged.

• The government will pause adjudication of any EB-2 AOS cases and will resume on October 1, 2014, when the government’s new fiscal year begins, and when a priority date is current again.

• We may anticipate major retrogression for EB-2 to occur later this fall, possibly back to 2005.  The news for EB-3 Indian nationals is also grim – we may expect slower movement.