The Department of State announced that cut-off dates for employment-based immigrant visa numbers will retrogress in some categories during the month of May.

The May 2012 Visa Bulletin, which was released in April of this year, noted that the cut-off dates for the EB-2 category for individuals born in India and China retrogressed, from May 1, 2010 to August 15, 2007. The retrogression in this category follows several months in which the priority dates had aggressively advanced in an effort by the Department of State to move cut-off dates forward until demand for immigrant visa numbers in the category exceeded the statutory limits. The advancement in priority dates had permitted many individuals to file an I-485 application or be approved for permanent resident status. In April, however, the agency stated that all visa numbers for potential immigrant visa applicants in the category have been used for the current fiscal year, which ends on September 30, 2012.

The EB-2 category encompasses foreign workers who are beneficiaries of labor certification for a position requiring an advanced degree or the equivalent, as well as those with “exceptional ability” in the sciences, business or arts, and those with exceptional ability or an advanced degree who can show that their activities will substantially benefit the national interest.

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