US warns Indian EB-1 green card numbers may run out before September 30

The US State Department has warned that EB-1 green card numbers for Indian applicants may become temporarily unavailable before September 30 due to high demand, potentially disrupting their immigration plans. This warning comes as Indian applicants already face severe backlogs in other employment-based categories. The EB-2 category for India remains unavailable in the September Visa Bulletin, while EB-3 has a final action date of January 1, 2014, creating long waits. The EB-1 India final action date is October 15, 2022, with a dates-for-filing cutoff of December 1, 2023. These delays stem from high demand and statutory limits, including a 7% per-country cap on immigrant visa numbers. For fiscal year 2026, the worldwide employment-based preference limit is set at 186,317, with India's large applicant pool creating lengthy queues across categories.