The United States has warned that employment-based first-preference (EB-1) green cards for Indian nationals could become unavailable within weeks due to exceptionally heavy demand, compounding an already severe green-card backlog. According to the U.S. State Department’s September Visa Bulletin, the high demand and utilization of EB-1 immigrant visa numbers by applicants chargeable to India threaten to exhaust the country’s allocated limit before the conclusion of the U.S. fiscal year on September 30. The State Department noted that if India’s pro-rated limit is reached prior to fiscal year-end, the category may have to be made unavailable, though the situation will be continually monitored for necessary adjustments. The EB-1 category specifically caters to priority workers, including individuals possessing extraordinary ability, outstanding researchers and professors, and specific multinational managers and executives.
Broader Backlog and Statutory Limitations:
This warning carries heavy implications for Indian applicants, as other core employment-based channels are heavily restricted: the EB-2 India category is designated as “U” (unavailable) for September, the EB-3 India final action date lags at January 1, 2014 (reflecting a queue of over twelve years), and the unreserved EB-5 investor category is similarly unavailable for final action. For September, the EB-1 India final action cutoff date is October 15, 2022, while the filing dates show December 1, 2023, for EB-1, January 15, 2015, for EB-2, and January 15, 2015, for EB-3. These systemic pressures arise from high demand coupled with statutory limits on yearly employment-based immigrant visas which stand at a worldwide limit of 186,317 for fiscal 2026—alongside a general 7 per cent per-country cap imposed by U.S. immigration law.
