Bad news is coming in quick succession for Filipinos and other foreign workers who intend to enter the US via employment-based immigration.

Just when things couldn’t possibly get worse for them, the Department of State announced in its July 2005 Visa Bulletin that visa numbers in the employment-based third preference (EB-3) and “other worker” categories will no longer be available for all countries for the rest of fiscal year 2005.

PROCESSING STOPS JULY 1

This means the Department of State would have to suspend immigrant visa processing for these categories starting July 1.

Those who are eligible to file for adjustment of status should file their I-140 and I-485 application before that date in order to avail of the benefits of adjustment, including work authorization.

The backlog reduction efforts of the Immigration Service have triggered the depletion of the visa number allocation for 2005 so that even if the numbers will become available for the succeeding fiscal year, retrogression would likely be imposed.

The EB-3 category refers to skilled workers and professionals like teachers, accountants, engineers and computer programmers. The “other worker” category refers to general houseworkers, home attendants, adult companions, and other unskilled workers.