The U.S. Department of State reports that the statutory cap for employment-based preference categories for fiscal year (FY) 2015 has been reached. The federal government’s fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30. Therefore, FY 2015 ends on September 30, 2015, and FY 2016 begins on October 1, 2015.

As a result of the cap having been reached, on September 24, 2015, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) suspended final adjudications for employment-based adjustment of status (I-485) applications currently pending with USCIS. USCIS, nevertheless, continues to accept I-485 applications and will resume issuing final adjudications of employment-based adjustment applications as soon as it enters the next fiscal year on October 1, 2015. Since processing will resume in one week, any impact from the temporary halt in final adjudications should be minimal.