New Delhi: Indian professionals waiting for US permanent residency under the employment-based EB-1 category could face a fresh setback, with the US State Department warning that the visa category may become unavailable before the end of the current fiscal year on September 30.
The warning was issued in the September 2026 Visa Bulletin, which highlighted unusually high demand and visa usage by applicants chargeable to India. The department said the EB-1 category could be made “Unavailable” in the coming weeks if India’s pro-rated annual allocation is exhausted before the fiscal year concludes.
The EB-1, or employment-based first-preference category, covers priority workers, including individuals with extraordinary ability, outstanding professors and researchers, and certain multinational executives and managers.
The State Department said it would continue monitoring visa demand and make any necessary adjustments. However, if the allocation is exhausted, further EB-1 visa approvals for Indian applicants could be halted until the beginning of the next fiscal year and the availability of a new allocation.
Final Action Dates in the Visa Bulletin are particularly important because they determine when an immigrant visa number is available and when a green card application can ultimately be approved.
For Indian applicants, the September filing-date cutoff for EB-1 was December 1, 2023. The corresponding dates for EB-2 and EB-3 were January 15, 2015.
The US employment-based immigration system also operates under a per-country limit. For fiscal year 2026, the worldwide employment-based preference limit was 186,317, with the statutory per-country limit set at 7 per cent of the combined annual employment-based limit.
The latest warning underscores the continuing pressure on employment-based immigration pathways for Indian professionals seeking permanent residency in the US.
