Retrogression: what it is

Why dates roll back. Congress caps employment-based green cards at about 140,000 a year (about 40,000 per category, no more than 7% per country of birth); the fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30, and the quota reopens on October 1. Hence the typical rhythm: early in the year dates tend to advance, toward the end they stall or roll back because the numbers run out; a U (unavailable) can appear in the cell. A lower cutoff does not mean the quota was cut: the cutoff manages the queue, while the limit is set by law.

What happens to filed documents. If the I-485 is already filed and the dates roll back, the application is not denied - it is put on hold at USCIS until your date is current again, and it stays at the same service center; keep your address current. That is why people advise using the early-filing window under Dates for Filing at once: a frozen filed application is a nuisance, a lost open window is months or years. On the consular path, even with an approved EB-1 petition the embassy may ask you to come back in October if the quota is exhausted.

This is not theory. Retrogression has happened to both EB-1 and EB-2, including the Rest of World column: until the end of 2022 EB-2 ROW was almost always current, in December 2022 a cutoff appeared for the first time in years, in August 2025 the date rolled back, and with the new fiscal year in October it moved forward again. The April 2026 bulletin warned outright that as demand grows or administrative actions change, retrogression may be necessary later in the fiscal year.

What does not help and typical mistakes. Premium processing speeds up only the I-140 review and does not move the date; there is no need to delay filing the I-140 because of a cutoff - the priority date is set when the petition is received, and the wait applies to the next stage. Open dates do not guarantee a visa: consular restrictions exist separately from the queue. Never plan around a figure from a chat or a screenshot - only around the current issue on travel.state.gov and the USCIS page saying which chart is accepted this month.

How it relates to EB-1A and NIW. The bulletin concerns only immigrant categories: on an O-1, retrogression does not touch you until an I-140 is filed. For EB-1 (row 1st) ROW is often current but not always; for EB-2 (row 2nd, including NIW) queues and rollbacks have been visible, so the bulletin is checked monthly, and the October issue (published around mid-September) is the first one to watch if your date stalled over the summer. The 2026 context: the FY2026 EB limit was elevated (186,317 due to unused family-sphere numbers carried over) and FY2027 returns to the base ~140,000 - so an "October thaw" is not guaranteed.