On Friday, September 25, 2015, just days away from thousands of
foreign nationals finally being able to file their applications for
permanent residence after waiting years for the opportunity to do
so, the U.S. Department of State (DOS), under pressure from the
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) who feared being
overwhelmed with applications, published a revised Visa Bulletin
for October, 2015, which rolled back the "Dates for
Filing" for several visa categories. Significantly, the EB-2
India dates were rolled back two years from July 1, 2011 to July 1,
2009; EB-2 China dates go backwards by 16 months, and EB-3
Philippines rolls back by five years.
Foreign national beneficiaries, and their qualifying derivative
family members, have been preparing to file under the newly
formatted Visa Bulletin ever since it was announced with much
fanfare by the DOS on September 9, 2015. They have been paying
attorney fees, medical exam fees, photograph fees, postage
