Indian and Chinese EB-2 Visa Cut-Off Dates

The State Department reportedly notified the USCIS that as of April 11, 2012, it had exhausted Indian/Chinese EB-2 visa numbers for FY 2012 and would not authorize such EB-2 visas to the USCIS. This raises a question for the State Department as to what cut-off dates they will publish for the next several months for Indian and Chinese EB-2 category. If they publish that India/China EB-2 is "Unavailable," the USCIS will not be able to receive any new EB-485 applications no matter how earlier priority dates the Indians and Chinese EB-2 cases have, not to mention their inability to adjudicate and approve pending cases. On the other hand, should they decide any specific cut-off dates for these categories, there arises a legal question as to whether the USCIS can refuse approval of the pending EB-485 applications or new EB-485 applications with earlier priority dates. The situation for May 2012 Visa Bulletin was different in that at the time the May 2012 Visa Bulletin was published, it had no information that the Indian/Chinese EB-2 annual visa allocations have been exhausted. Ideally, after the State Department learned that the visa number had been exhausted, they could have published revised visa bulleting for May 2012, which they opted not to. These two departments learned a valuable lesson from a political and legal disaster during the FY 2007 Visa Bulletin fiasco period. Additionally, the issue involves a more practical stake involved for the USCIS. Hypothetically, should the State Department set a cut-off date for the Indian/Chinese EB-2, the USCIS will be required to continuously receive EB-485 applications from Indian and Chinese professional workers with a priority date earlier than the cut-off date, albeit inability of the USCIS to approve any such pending EB-485 applications regardless of how far back of priority dates one has. This situation will keep the USCIS busy with continuing in-flow of fee funds to support the agency financially without any financial crisis. Imagine what happens if the State Department set the EB-2 visa numbers "Unavailable" for four months! During the four months, they will not be able to receive any new Indian/Chinese EB-2 I-485 applications!? Imagine its impact on the USCIS finance and idle resources!? Very curious of what has been cooked behind the spotlight on this matter between the State Department and the USCIS for the upcoming Visa Bulletins. http://www.greencardapply.com/news/news12/news12_0508.htm www.greencardfamily.com www.greencardapply.com