Some Visa Categories Retrogress in April; Cut-Off Dates May Slow
Because of high adjustment of status demand, the Department of State said it has been necessary to retrogress the April employment third preference cut-off dates in an attempt to hold demand within the fiscal year (FY) 2009 annual limit. Because over 60 percent of the Worldwide and Philippines employment third preference demand received this year by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has been for applicants with priority dates before January 1, 2004, the cut-off date has been retrogressed to March 1, 2003, to help ensure that future demand is reduced significantly. This cut-off date applies immediately. Further retrogression or unavailability at any time cannot be ruled out.
The Department noted that it has also been necessary to retrogress the employment third preference Other Worker cut-off date for all countries to hold the issuance level within the annual limit.
During the past year, many preference categories have experienced steady and sometimes rapid cut-off date movement. Such action is normally followed by an increase in applicant demand. Heavy applicant demand for numbers in some categories could require cut-off date movements to slow, stop, or even retrogress at some point during the remainder of FY 2009, the Department said, to hold visa use within the applicable annual numerical limits. Should such action occur, it would most likely be only temporary in nature, pending the start of the new fiscal year in October.
