USCIS EXPECTS TO MEET SEPT. 30 DEADLINE FOR PROCESSING GREEN CARD SURPLUS
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) reported an increase in the employment-based annual limit for immigrant visas in fiscal year 2022. The number of available employment visas for this fiscal year was approximately twice as high as usual. USCIS claimed this setback was primarily due to consular closures abroad during the COVID-19 pandemic which led to almost all 140,000 family-sponsored visa numbers going unused during fiscal year (FY) 2021.
According to the Visa Bulletin for September 2022, there has been a steady increase in both USCIS and Department of State (DOS) demand patterns for employment-based visas. Thus, the Department expects that most employment-based preference category limits and/or the overall employment-based preference limit for FY 2022 to be reached during September. If the annual limit were reached, “it would be necessary to immediately make the preference category ‘unavailable,’ and no further requests for numbers would be honored,” the bulletin states.
USCIS is dedicated to ensuring they use as many available employment-based visas as possible in FY 2022, which ends on Sept. 30, 2022.
Source: USCIS FAQ, Aug. 26, 2022, Link.
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