EB Retrogression Still Expected in Jan 2005
Posted Nov 19, 2004
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The U.S. Department of State (DOS) released the December 2004 Visa Bulletin on November 15. This December Visa Bulletin will be valid from December 1 throughout the month of December 2004. The DOS issues the Visa Bulletin early, which helps people to plan. The employment-based (EB) priority dates remain current for all categories through December 2004. The Bulletin did indicate, however, that employment-based priority dates are still expected to retrogress in January 2005. At this time, they are predicting the retrogression may only impact employment-based third-preference (EB3) cases for foreign nationals from China (mainland born), India, and the Philippines.
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It is important to plan carefully in light of the impending retrogression. We previously analyzed the potential impact of the retrogression in our September 24, 2004 MurthyBulletin article, Priority Dates May Retrogress, available on MurthyDotCom. The retrogression is the result of the high demand for employment-based immigrant visa numbers. The Visa Bulletin for December 2004 included a reminder that the law prohibits the use of more than 27 percent of the employment-based annual immigrant visa number limit in each of the first three quarters of a fiscal year. The rate of demand during the first quarter (October-December) is likely to exceed this 27-percent limit. Because of this excess demand, the DOS reiterated the likelihood that cut-off dates will have to be established for EB3 cases, as indicated above.
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We at The Law Office of Sheela Murthy, P.C. will continue to monitor this important issue to inform MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers as information becomes available.
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[Note : The most recent DOS Visa Bulletin chart is always available on MurthyDotCom. The full DOS Visa Bulletin, containing additional relevant information, is available on the DOS WebSite.]