USCIS has announced that it is changing the adjudication procedures for employment- based adjustment of status cases. Beginning April 12, 2006, the USCIS will accept adjustment applications for employment-based cases even where a visa number is not available. Cases where a visa is not currently available will be "preadjudicated" as far as possible and held in a "staging area" in anticipation of the availability of a visa. USCIS will monitor these preadjudicated cases and visa availability and finalize cases as visas become available.
While this is a change from historical procedures, it appears to be tied to the USCIS initiative to improve case management and eliminate backlogs, dubbed as "bi-specialization." Earlier this month, USCIS centralized filing of both I-129s and I-140s, designating the Vermont Service Center as the filing location and clearing house for all I-129s and the Nebraska Service Center as the filing location and clearing house for all I-140s. Each of these service centers will work with a "sister" service center in processing the cases in hope of establishing shorter processing times.