aj0607

I check the bulletin every month and this month (January 2011) for my category has gone from June 2002 to January 2001?? Please can anyone explain how things can move backwards? It actually has moved back for every category and now Category F4 is ahead of F3???

scrubbedexpat099

If you look on the web site where you check the bulletin you will see that they explain.

It went a long way forward, so just a correction.

I would not sweat it, just the way it goes.

aj0607

Sorry but I'm not entirely sure what you mean? Are you saying that it is possible for it to go backwards and so what I'm reading is not a mistake? What do you mean by it moved a long way forward? I'm very confused.

scrubbedexpat099

If you have been following it you would have seen it moved forward quite a bit in the summer.

It goes forward, it goes backwards.

Once you get close, then worry about it.

aj0607

I do check and have been every month since applying in Oct 07 and it has never gone backward. What is your best guess to get to my priority date..have you any idea?

christmasoompa

As pointed out to you in post no. 2 of your previous thread, it can go backwards.
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...63#post8791263

Good luck.

ian-mstm

Yes, exactly. The dates do move forward and backwards and what you are reading is not a mistake. You probably want to know why the dates move backwards... it's simple, really. Have you ever lost your car keys? It's a bit like that. Now you have them, now you don't. Well... case files are the same - one moment it's on your desk and the next it's on the floor under the chair. Eventually, you find it - but since the date on it is now much older than the dates of the stuff you're currently working on, the reported dates go backwards to coincide with the date of the actual case you're working on.

Ian

lisa67

My date went backwards by 4 years just as we were within a week of our date being current!! That's USCIS for you!!

Sujan

same here - F2A went back almost 3 years when we were just about to being current.

You think the Feb bulletin dates will bounce forward to where they were in the Dec bulletin?

aj0607

I have absolutely no idea!! Sorry you are asking the wrong person. I cannot understand the logic of it going back at all. I think if you read all the replies from my post you should just feel optimistic that you are close..I'm sure it will not be long for you if you were coming up.

sangiano

The explanation is also given in the January Visa Bulletin.

So many people have now applied, that the dates have had to go backwards (retrogress).

The Visa Office only has a certain number of visas to allocate. If the date remained as it was in December 2010, more people would be eligible for approval than Visas available.

The date has gone backwards to limit further demand.

It will move during the rest of the FY to ensure that it allows just enough Visa approvals for the Visa numbers available.

It is impossible to tell when they will return to the Cut Off Dates shown in the December VB. The explanation does not rule out further retrogression if demand does not subside.

S Folinsky

Inasmuch as you check the Visa Bulletin every month, the tone of surprise in your post is surprising -- the VB has warned several times in the past that this would happen. In fact, the December bulletin said it would happen in January.

The system is explained somewhat by this link on State's website.

Particular attention should be paid to the interface between Department of State foreign visa issuance and stateside adjustments of status by USCIS. The system was set up in the early 1950's when most people immigrants came via the immigrant visa process -- and adjustment of status were few and far between. So State has responsibility for allocation of individual visa numbers.

As for visas the system works pretty well and one can notionally obtain a visa the instant they visa availability and being "documentarily qualified" match. The applicants are allowed to get ready in anticipation of the numbers becoming in available in the near future.

The system for adjustments is different -- one cannot even file to begin the process until the VB shows availability. USCIS requests a visa number when each individual case is ready to be closed.

As a result, State interviews with the visa number in hand while CIS doesn't even request the number until the interview is completed. And USCIS gives only general information [if any at all] until the case is over. [BTW, the statement about "generating demand" is, IMHO, a dig at CIS, but I digress].

On the FB-3 category, it pays to remember the "245(i)" filing period of December 20, 2000 to April 30, 2001." This caused a huge "spike" in I-130 filings. If you look at the history at the above link, the priority date did not reach 4-30-2001 [by going past it] until December 2009 [FY 2010]. Many of the 245(i) filings were literally "last minute" -- it appears that a concomitant spike in filings took place at the end of 2009 and in 2010 -- that will instantly increase demand -- and it might stand still or retrogress even more.

On the FB-4 cut-off dates, it seems that not as many people are interested. However, I think that with the rapid advance to past experience -- it will increase demand.