U.S. Department of State predicts additional visa numbers available for Indian nationals in EB-2 category

March 29, 2011

According to the American Immigration Lawyers Association (“AILA”), the U.S. Department of State has indicated that unused immigrant visa numbers for the EB-1 Extraordinary Ability category will flow down to the EB-2 Advanced Degree Professional Category starting in the May 2011 Visa Bulletin.

According to AILA, the U.S. Department of State informed AILA of a dramatic reduction in the use of EB-1 numbers, and the Department of State plans to drop those unused immigrant visa numbers down to the EB-2 category. As things currently stand, this could mean that up to 12,000 additional immigrant visa numbers could be available for use in the EB-2 category. This should allow advancement in the India cutoff date for May.

Apparently, this is due to the fact that the demand for EB-1 numbers has dropped off substantially since October 2010. This is welcome news for many Indian nationals in the EB-2 category, where the current cutoff date of May 6, 2006 has remained in place since September 2010. See the Department of State’s monthly Visa Bulletin.

Please contact Matt Raynes at our Bangor, Maine office with questions.

This alert is provided as general information, and is not a substitute for legal or other professional advice.