In its latest liaison call, the Department of State told the AILA DOS Committee that unprecedented demand from India and China has already exhausted most employment-based visa numbers for FY 2026. The July bulletin shows EB-1 India retrogressing to 1 January 2022 and EB-2 worldwide hit with a final-action cut-off of 15 April 2024. The unreserved EB-5 category for India, meanwhile, is now "unavailable" until the start of the new fiscal year on 1 October. Charlie Oppenheim, the department’s chief of immigrant-visa control, cautioned that further retrogression—or even temporary closure of categories—may be required in August or September if usage continues at the current pace. Consular sections have also been told to expect record high demand once the new year’s quota is released. For multinational companies, the squeeze means longer waits for green-card employees to port from H-1B or L-1 status.
![July Visa Bulletin briefing warns of imminent retrogression in EB-1, EB-2 and EB-5]()
Organizations navigating these shifting timelines can also leverage services like VisaHQ, which streamlines U.S. visa applications and renewals for both employers and individual travelers. By offering real-time requirement updates, document checklists, and end-to-end submission support through VisaHQ helps HR and mobility teams minimize paperwork errors and stay ahead of processing changes—freeing them to focus on strategic workforce planning.
Mobility managers should prepare to extend non-immigrant visas, budget for additional I-539/I-765 filings for dependent spouses, and monitor maximum H-1B stay limits. Some employers are accelerating EB-1C multinational-manager petitions to secure earlier priority dates. The warning underscores the importance of early PERM filings and category-switch strategies. Practitioners advise filing downgrade EB-3 petitions only where truly advantageous, as moving categories can backfire when dates shift rapidly.
Organizations navigating these shifting timelines can also leverage services like VisaHQ, which streamlines U.S. visa applications and renewals for both employers and individual travelers. By offering real-time requirement updates, document checklists, and end-to-end submission support through VisaHQ helps HR and mobility teams minimize paperwork errors and stay ahead of processing changes—freeing them to focus on strategic workforce planning.
Mobility managers should prepare to extend non-immigrant visas, budget for additional I-539/I-765 filings for dependent spouses, and monitor maximum H-1B stay limits. Some employers are accelerating EB-1C multinational-manager petitions to secure earlier priority dates. The warning underscores the importance of early PERM filings and category-switch strategies. Practitioners advise filing downgrade EB-3 petitions only where truly advantageous, as moving categories can backfire when dates shift rapidly.
