The United States has warned that EB-1 employment-based green cards for Indian applicants could become unavailable within weeks, as surging demand threatens to exhaust India's annual allocation before the US fiscal year ends on 30 September. The alert, issued in the State Department's September Visa Bulletin, adds fresh urgency to an immigration backlog that has already rendered multiple green-card categories inaccessible to Indians.

What the September Visa Bulletin Says

The State Department cautioned that 'high demand and number use by aliens chargeable to India in the EB-1 visa category may necessitate making the category unavailable in the coming weeks if India's pro-rated limit in the EB-1 category is reached before the fiscal year ends.' It added that 'this situation will be continually monitored, and any necessary adjustments will be made accordingly.'

For September, the EB-1 India final action date is set at 15 October 2022, meaning an Indian applicant must generally hold a priority date earlier than that cutoff for a visa number to be available for final processing, subject to other eligibility conditions. The dates-for-filing chart lists 1 December 2023 for EB-1 India — offering somewhat more room for those adjusting status inside the US, though applicants must verify which chart US Citizenship and Immigration Services authorises each month.

EB-1 and Who It Covers

EB-1 is the employment-based first-preference category, reserved for priority workers: individuals with extraordinary ability, outstanding professors and researchers, and certain multinational executives and managers. It is widely regarded as the most prestigious and fastest employment-based immigration pathway, making the prospect of its closure especially consequential for high-skilled Indian professionals.

The Broader Backlog Crisis

The EB-1 warning lands against an already dire landscape for Indian employment-based applicants. India's EB-2 category — covering professionals with advanced degrees and those of exceptional ability — is listed as 'U' (unavailable) for September, continuing its status from August. The EB-3 India final action date stands at 1 January 2014, a queue stretching back more than 12 years. By comparison, the EB-3 final action date for most other countries is 1 September 2024, for mainland China 1 January 2022, and for the Philippines 1 August 2023 — underscoring how disproportionately long Indian nationals wait.

India's unreserved EB-5 investor category is also unavailable for final action in September, though EB-5 set-aside sub-categories for rural projects, high-unemployment areas, and infrastructure remain current for all countries.

Why Indian Applicants Face Steeper Odds

The structural driver is a combination of outsized demand from India and a statutory 7% per-country cap on employment- and family-based preference visas. For fiscal year 2026, the worldwide employment-based preference limit stands at 186,317. Because India generates a disproportionate share of high-skilled immigration petitions — particularly in technology and research — it consistently hits the per-country ceiling faster than other nations, leaving qualified applicants in multi-decade queues. Carryover provisions affect final calculations but have not resolved the structural imbalance.

What Happens Next

The State Department has signalled it will monitor EB-1 demand on a rolling basis and adjust availability accordingly through the remainder of the fiscal year. If the category closes before 30 September 2025, affected Indian applicants would need to wait until the new fiscal year opens on 1 October for fresh visa numbers to become available. Advocacy groups tracking Indian immigration backlogs are expected to press for legislative relief, though no statutory change is currently before Congress.