The Department of State (DOS) Visa Bulletin for December 2007 indicates that visa numbers will significantly retrogress for EB-2 employment-based immigrant applications for India-born and China-born individuals. Effective December 1, 2007, the priority date for the EB-2 India category will move back more than two years to January 1, 2002. EB-2 China will move back three years to January 1, 2003. Individuals in these categories may see additional retrogression later in the fiscal year.

DOS advises in the Visa Bulletin that retrogression of the China and India EB-2 numbers was necessary due to "extraordinarily heavy applicant demand for numbers, primarily by Citizenship and Immigration Services offices for adjustment of status cases." DOS also notes that demand for visa numbers in these categories for October and the first week of November has already resulted in use of over 38% of the annual limit. DOS hopes that the "December retrogressions will return monthly number use within the target range. If not, further retrogressions [for India and China] cannot be ruled out."

While the news for EB-2 India and China was disappointing, the rest of the Visa Bulletin includes favorable news for most other employment-based green card applicants. EB-1 remains current for all countries, including India and China; DOS does not foresee any retrogression in the EB-1 category for countries other than India and China. Retrogression of the India and China EB-1 categories may be required later in the fiscal year, depending upon the rate of demand. EB-2 remains current for all countries other than India and China.

The EB-3 priority date for all countries other than China, India and Mexico moved forward one month to September 1, 2002. DOS also notes that "slow forward movement [in this category] should be possible" as demand patterns are established. EB-3 for China-born individuals has moved forward to October 15, 2001, EB-3 India-born to May 1, 2001, and EB-3 Mexico-born to April 22, 2001.

It is important to note that "nationality" is not the same as citizenship. Generally, DOS looks at the country of birth in determining whether a person is a national of a given country. As a result, persons who become citizens of other countries (i.e., Indians who become Canadian citizens) are still considered nationals of their birth country for immigrant visa purposes.

Visa retrogression immediately impacts only those individuals in the final stages of the permanent resident process (i.e., those seeking to file an application for adjustment of status (AOS), who are waiting for an AOS application to be adjudicated, or who are seeking to apply for an immigrant visa at a U.S. Consulate or Embassy based on an approved immigrant visa petition). Visa retrogression has no impact on the processing of a labor certification that is about to be filed or is pending with the Department of Labor. Furthermore, visa retrogression does not prohibit the filing of an immigrant visa petition (I-140) based on an approved labor certification, even if that immigrant visa petition will be filed under the EB-2 category.

For general information on visa retrogression, please see our FAQ on this subject. For more information on the Visa Bulletin and country quota movements, including information about movement in the Family-Based Quotas, please see our DOS Visa Bulletin and Quota Movement page which includes detailed nationality-specific charts of quota movement for the past decade.

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