Immigration Alert – EB-1 India Retrogression

Department of State has recently announced in the August 2023 Visa Bulletin that India will be subject to a final action cutoff date of January 1, 2012, within the Employment Based First Preference category (EB-1), having reached their limit for FY-2023. While this retrogression sets India’s final action cutoff date back by 10 years in the EB-1 category, DOS indicated that this drastic setback is not likely to last long. DOS foresees that in October 2023, the start of the new fiscal year, India’s final action date will likely advance to at least the final action date announced in the July Visa Bulletin, which was February 1, 2022.

The August Visa Bulletin also sets a final action cutoff date for EB-1 for Rest of the World countries at August 1, 2023 in an effort to hold number use within the FY 2023 annual limit. DOS predicts that in October the EB-1 category will return to “current” status for these countries. There was no movement for China EB-1 final action date.