The Visa Chief of the Department of State, Charlie Oppenheim, stated on
March 22, 2012, that visa retrogression in the Employment-based 2nd
preference category for nationals from India and China is expected in
May. Oppenheim stated he believes that India and China EB-2 will
retrogress to August 15, 2007. According to Oppenheim, demand for EB-2
numbers is high due to the progression of EB-2 dates from November 2001 –
April 2012.
USCIS has stated that it will continue to “preadjudicate” adjustment
applications received through April. These “preadjudicated” cases will
be held in the State Department in the “pending” demand file, so that
the cases will be ready in October or earlier in case current number use
pattern changes, and the cases are needed at the end of the current
fiscal year to ensure that the full employment-based permanent resident
visa allocation is utilized.
