USCIS says an exceptionally high number of employment-based immigrant visas available in the EB-1 and EB-2 categories
With “an exceptionally high number†of employment-based immigrant visas available for priority workers and professionals with advanced degrees, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has advised eligible green card applicants to switch categories.
There is an exceptionally high number of employment-based immigrant visas available in the EB-1 (priority workers) and EB-2 (people with advanced degrees or with exceptional ability) categories during the current fiscal year ending Sep 30, 2022, the immigration agency announced Friday.
The overall employment-based annual limit for fiscal year 2022 is approximately twice as high as usual, because that limit includes all unused family-sponsored visa numbers from fiscal year 2021, which was approximately 140,000, it said.
Read: Work visa holders question new USCIS mission statement (February 10, 2022)
In addition, under the relevant statute, any visas not required in the fifth employment-based preference category (EB-5) are made available in the first employment-based preference category, and any visas not required in the first employment-based preference category are made available in the second employment-based preference category.
These visas cannot be made available to applicants in the third employment-based preference category because, given the significant number of noncitizens awaiting visas in the second employment-based preference category, these visas are required by statute to be used for the second preference category, USCIS said.
More information on how to switch categories is available in a section called “Transfer of Underlying Basis†on USCIS Green Card for Employment-Based Immigrants page.
Read: USCIS seeks to include work permits in premium processing (December 15, 2021)
US immigration law provides foreigners with a variety of ways to become lawful permanent residents (get a Green Card) through employment in the United States. These employment-based (EB) “preference immigrant†categories include:
First preference (EB-1) – priority workers – Foreigners with extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics; outstanding professors and researchers; or certain multinational managers and executives.
Second preference (EB-2) – foreigners who are members of the professions holding advanced degrees or who have exceptional ability (including requests for national interest waivers).
Read: Seven Ways To Get Your Green Card In The United States (July 30, 2021)
Third preference (EB-3) – skilled workers, professionals, or other workers.
Last fiscal a significant number of green cards were wasted. Even after transfer of categories, the USCIS is required to process the larger number of EB-2 applications within before Sep 30, 2022.