Washington, September 3: The United States has issued a warning that the availability of Employment-Based First Preference (EB-1) green cards for Indians may soon come to an end. This situation arises due to a surge in applications and increasing demand. Consequently, Indian applicants, who are already facing long wait times, may encounter further difficulties.
The U.S. Department of State stated in its September Visa Bulletin that the number of EB-1 applications from India is so high that the visa quota for this category could be fully utilized before the fiscal year ends on September 30.
The department noted, “The number of visas available in the EB-1 category for India may be exhausted before the end of the fiscal year. If this occurs, this category may need to be temporarily declared ‘unavailable’ in the coming weeks.”
Additionally, the department mentioned that it is closely monitoring the situation and will make necessary adjustments if required.
The EB-1 category is the highest priority employment-based category, which includes individuals with extraordinary abilities, outstanding professors and researchers, as well as certain multinational executives and managers.
This warning is particularly significant for Indians, as other major employment-based green card categories are already experiencing substantial backlogs.
For September, the final action date for EB-1 India is set for October 15, 2022. This means that generally, only those Indian applicants whose priority dates are before October 15, 2022, may see final action on their cases.
The EB-2 category, which includes professionals with advanced degrees and individuals with exceptional abilities, is marked as ‘U’ or ‘Unavailable’ in the September Visa Bulletin. According to the U.S. Department of State, ‘U’ indicates that no visas can be issued for this category during this period. EB-2 India was also unavailable in August and remains so in September.
The Employment-Based Third Preference category is also facing significant backlogs. The final action date for EB-3 India for September is January 1, 2014, indicating a queue that is over 12 years old. In comparison, the date for most countries (not separately named in the bulletin) is September 1, 2024. For China, it is January 1, 2022, and for the Philippines, August 1, 2023.
The EB-5 investor category for India (which is not reserved for any specific group) is also unavailable for final action in September. However, the EB-5 category reserved for rural projects, areas with high unemployment, and infrastructure remains ‘current’ (i.e., open) for all countries.
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