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November 16, 2004 - The latest (December) Visa Bulletin
released by the State Department includes a warning regarding
the expected rollback of cut-off dates in the EB3 (employment
based third preference) immigrant visa category beginning
in January 2005. As stated in the Visa Bulletin, "it
may be necessary to impose an Employment Third preference
cut-off date for January, to limit number use during the second
quarter. At this time it is not possible to offer any estimate
regarding what that cut-off date might be, but it is likely
to apply only to the following chargeability areas: China-mainland
born, India, and the Philippines."
The cut-off date refers to the priority date assigned to
an immigrant visa (green card) petition, and indicates an
applicant's place in the immigrant quota queue. When the dates
are "current," an immigrant visa is immediately
available for all eligible applicants in that preference category
and from the countries indicated. When a cut-off date is imposed,
an immigrant visa is available only for those with a priority
date on or before the cut-off date for that preference category
and country. Adjustment applications (I-485) can only be filed
by individuals for whom an immigrant visa is available (i.e.,
their priority date is earlier than the cut-off date assigned
by the State Department for their visa category). For those
with pending I-485 applications, their applications can only
be approved is an immigrant visa is immediately available.
BAL comment: Official announcements from the State Department
regarding visa availability have been reliable indicators
of future events. This announcement clarifies that the rollback
that has been expected to occur will likely be limited to
individuals from the countries noted, and would not apply
to beneficiaries of EB3 petitions worldwide, at least initially.
More concrete information should become available around December
15 when the next Visa Bulletin is released. The current Visa
Bulletin may be accessed by clicking on the link below:
http://web1.usabal.com/processing/visabulletin.html
For additional information regarding the impact of a priority
date rollback on green card applicants, please see http://web1.usabal.com/news/2004/04Sep16.html
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