Visa Lawyer Blog
The U.S. Dept. of State has estimated that all 140,000 employment-based immigrant visa numbers will be used this fiscal year (October 1, 2008 through September 30, 2009). This is a statistical projection based upon the utilization of Green Cards so far. Because of greater usage in EB-4 and EB-5, the unused visas from these categories which were applied for EB-1 and EB-2 categories would no longer be helpful. So, EB-2 applicants from China and India could have an even longer wait to obtain green cards. As always, EB-1 category is doing well so far, but the number of applications is higher and it will be current for India and China during the month of July 2009, but will probably retrogress in August/September. The condition for EB-2 for country like India seems bad. Currently about 25,000 EB-2 cases (for India) are awaiting visa numbers. Like all other countries, India has a limit of 2,800 EB-2 numbers available per year plus any “fall across” and “fall down” numbers from EB-4, EB-5 and EB-1 visa numbers.
Hence, it seems some action from Congress is required otherwise Indian EB2 applicants may be needed to wait for approx. 10 years. The condition is same for China (EB-2) as well. It is estimated that EB-3 visas for India, China and Mexico applicants will not be available for the remainder of the fiscal year. There are approximately 25,000 applicants in both EB-2 and EB-3 category currently awaiting visa numbers from the Department of State.
Will keep on updating with further updates.