The fiscal year turns over on 1 October. What that does, and what it does not.

The United States government's fiscal year runs from 1 October to 30 September. Immigrant visa numbers are allocated by fiscal year, which makes the turnover the single most misunderstood event in the calendar for anyone waiting in an employment-based queue.

What resets

The annual supply of numbers. Employment-based immigration is capped each year by statute, the third preference receives a fixed share of that worldwide level, and within the third preference the other workers subcategory — the unskilled line — is limited to 10,000 visas a year. On 1 October that year's allocation becomes available.

This is why cut-off dates sometimes advance noticeably in the October bulletin after a slow August and September. It is not generosity or a policy change. It is a new year's numbers becoming available.

What does not reset

The queue. Everyone waiting on 30 September is still waiting on 1 October, in the same order, with the same priority dates. A new allocation refills the supply; it does not shorten the line.

Nor does the turnover change your priority date, your place relative to anyone else, or any deadline in your own case. If nothing in your case moved in September, nothing about the calendar alone moves it in October.

Why the end of a fiscal year gets strange

As a year's numbers run down, the Department of State manages the remainder. That is when cut-off dates can stop advancing, or retrogress — move backwards, so a date that was current stops being current. The bulletin routinely carries advance notice that particular categories and countries may see this.

Retrogression is normal rather than an error, and it is the clearest evidence that nobody can honestly predict when a given month will be reached. We do not forecast cut-off dates on this site, and you should treat anyone who does with suspicion — particularly if the forecast arrives attached to a request for money.

What to do about it

Nothing, other than keep your own case moving and read the October bulletin when it appears. The stages you control — documents, civil records, police certificates, the medical examination when you are called for it — are worth exactly as much attention in a slow month as in a fast one, because they are the parts that are yours.