Worrying news has emerged from Washington for thousands of highly-skilled Indian professionals, scientists, researchers and senior executives of multinational companies who are dreaming of permanent residency in America. The US Department of State has issued an official warning in its September Visa Bulletin saying that the Employment-Based First Preference category i.e. EB-1 Green Card may become temporarily unavailable to Indian citizens in the coming weeks. The country-specific quota is about to be exhausted due to unprecedented consumption of visa numbers and huge demand by Indian applicants before the end of the US fiscal year 2026 (September 30). What did the US State Department say? According to the US State Department, the EB-1 quota allotted for India has been utilized at a very fast pace due to the deadline of September 30. The Visa Bulletin explains: "Due to heavy demand by Indian chargeable applicants and over-utilisation of visa numbers, it may be necessary to declare this category 'Unavailable' in the coming weeks if the India pro-rated limit is exhausted before the financial year ends on 30 September. The situation is being continuously monitored and appropriate adjustments will be made as necessary."
If this category is unavailable, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the US Embassy will not be able to issue or finalize new EB-1 green cards for any Indian applicants until September 30. What is EB-1 Green Card and why is it most important for Indians? EB-1 is considered the most prestigious and 'fast-track' green card pathway in the US immigration system. This category is reserved primarily for three categories: EB-1A: Individuals of exceptional ability (nationally or internationally renowned individuals in the sciences, arts, education, business, or sports). EB-1B: Outstanding professor and internationally recognized researcher. EB-1C: Managerial and Executive Officers of Multinational Corporations. Since the waiting lists for Indians in the EB-2 and EB-3 categories have stretched for decades, many Indian IT professionals and technical managers have been adopting a strategy to get ahead of the green card queue by taking the EB-1C route through the L-1A visa. This is why there has been a huge jump in the number of Indian applicants in this category in the last few years. September 2026 Visa Bulletin: Cut-Off and Backlog Status The situation for Indian applicants in various employment categories remains extremely complex, according to the September visa bulletin: EB-1 (India): Final Action Date stands at October 15, 2022. This means that only those applicants whose priority date is before this date can get a green card. EB-2 (India): This category for advanced degree holders has already been declared 'U' (Unavailable) i.e. completely closed in September. EB-3 (India): Final action date for professionals and skilled workers is January 1, 2014, representing a long wait of over 12 years. EB-5 (India): The unreserved investor category is also unavailable for the month of September, although the set-aside category for rural and infrastructure projects remains open. 7% per country cap: Why do Indian professionals get stuck? The root of this entire crisis is the old rule of the US Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), under which a maximum of 7 percent (Per-Country Cap) of the total annual employment-based green cards cannot be given to citizens of any one country. The total annual limit for employment-based green cards worldwide has been set at 1,86,317 for fiscal year 2026. Although Indians constitute more than 70% of the professionals working on H-1B visas in America's technology industry, when it comes to green cards, they get only 7% quota, similar to Iceland or any small country. Due to this huge gap in demand and limited quota, more than 1 million Indians are currently stuck in the green card backlog, for many of whom the wait period is theoretically several generations long. Will there be relief from the new financial year starting on October 1? According to immigration experts and lawyers, even if the EB-1 category is closed for the remainder of September, it is not a complete ban but a technical result of the annual quota ending. The new US fiscal year (FY 2027) starts on October 1, 2026. New annual visa numbers are issued with the start of the new fiscal year, reactivating the EB-1 category in the October visa bulletin. However, experts say that in view of the huge backlog, the risk of retrogression in the cut-off dates will remain constant in the coming months.