The Final Action Date for EB-1 Priority Workers will be moved up by 5 years for India to January 1, 2017, and by 2 weeks for China to February 15, 2022. For all other nations, the EB-1 classification will take effect.
EB-2 Advanced Degreed Professionals – The Final Action Date for China will be October 1, 2019, whereas it will accelerate by almost three months for India to January 1, 2012. For the rest of the world, EB-2 will move by 1 week to July 8, 2022.
Outlook for Fiscal Year 2024
According to immigration regulations, there is a cap of 140,000 employment-based green cards every fiscal year (FY), plus any unused numbers in the family-based green card categories from the previous year.
Family-based green cards were hampered by COVID since most American embassies and consulates ran at drastically reduced rates in FY2021 and FY2022. Most family-based candidates receive their green cards outside of the United States, whereas most employment-based applicants change their status here.
The Department of State (DOS) established a 281,507 yearly cap on employment-based green cards for FY 2022, more than twice the prior level. This resulted from unused family-based visa numbers from FY 2021 being distributed to the available employment-based green cards for the next fiscal year.
The approximately 57,000 unused family-sponsored visa numbers from FY 2022 were added to the FY 2023 employment-based limit in the most recent fiscal year, bringing the total number of employment-based green cards to 197,000.
USCIS predicts that there will be fewer employment-based green cards granted in the next fiscal year, which starts on October 1, 2023, to a total of 165,000.
This article, under no circumstances, acts as legal advice; therefore, for any immigration questions, please contact your Attorney or the Ahluwalia Law Offices, P.C. (Team ALO).