⚠️ EB-1 India Retrogression Alert: Due to extremely high demand in the EB-1 category for applicants born in India, the final action date has retrograded by several years in recent visa bulletins. EB-1 is no longer immediately current for India.
Understanding Retrogression
Immigrant visa retrogression occurs when the number of applications exceeds the available visa caps allocated for a country or category in a given fiscal year. When this happens, the State Department pushes back the "Final Action Dates" in the monthly Visa Bulletin, meaning only applications filed before that cutoff date can be finalized or approved.
Impact on Self-Petitioners (EB-1A) & Managerial Transferees (EB-1C)
If you qualify for EB-1A or EB-1C and your priority date is not current:
- Filing restrictions: You can still file Form I-140 to establish your priority date. However, you cannot file Form I-485 Adjustment of Status concurrently until the Visa Bulletin indicates that your priority date is current.
- Work authorization limits: You must maintain independent non-immigrant status (such as H-1B or L-1) while waiting for your priority date to become current, as a pending I-140 does not grant stateside work authorization.