Every month, the American Immigration Lawyers Association’s (AILA) Department of State Liaison Committee checks in with Charlie Oppenheim, Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division at the Department of State. This month’s check-in included information about retrogression in employment-based immigrant categories in future visa bulletins.
In particular, there is a chance that EB-1 China and India will not become current again at the start of the fiscal year. The check-in says:
“EB-1 China and EB-1 India remain steady at January 1, 2012, and Charlie anticipates this date will hold for the remainder of the fiscal year. It is hoped that these categories will become current again on October 1, 2018, but demand trends will be monitored over the summer. If USCIS District Offices are not interviewing EB-1 China and EB-1 India applicants with priority dates beyond the established final action date, Charlie may not have clear visibility into total demand. If there is a surge in demand for these categories beginning in October, it could cause a final action date to be imposed more quickly in the fiscal year than otherwise anticipated.”
Additionally, Charlie expects EB-1 Worldwide to retrogress in August or September, but says that that category will return to current in October. Additionally, EB-2 Worldwide may retrogress in August or September, but would also return to current in October if that happens.