The Employment-Based Third Preference (EB-3) category for the Philippines and all areas other than mainland China, India and Mexico have retrogressed for April 2009. The current priority date for these categories is now March 1, 2003 --over two years earlier than the March 2009 Visa Bulletin. The good news is that the priority dates for China, India and Mexico third-preference categories

all advanced. A copy of the April 2009 Visa Bulletin is available by clicking here.

The worldwide and Philippine priority date retrogression went into effect on March 6, 2009, which was the date that the April Visa Bulletin was published. As a result, no new EB-3 adjustment of status or consular processing applications may be filed for workers from these areas (or their dependents), until the priority date for these categories again becomes current. The ability of CIS and the Consulates to process pending adjustment and immigrant visa cases this month will depend on whether a visa number had already been assigned to the pending application at the time the cut-off was announced. [In the case of the EB-3 preference category, a priority date is normally based on the date that a labor certification application was filed for a particular worker.]