State Department provides further clarification for upcoming India EB-3 retrogression

The U.S. State Department has provided further clarification on the upcoming India Employment-Based Third preference (EB-3) retrogression.

Key Points:

• The State Department clarified that India is currently “oversubscribed for immigrant visas in numerically limited immigrant visa categories.”
• Applicants chargeable to India are subject to prorating because the total demand for family and employment-based visas during this fiscal year will exceed the 7% per-country limit.
• The Department estimates all prorated EB-3 visas available to applicants chargeable to India for FY2023 will be used by July 1.

Additional Information: The EB-3 Final Action Date for India is expected to advance once the annual limits reset in fiscal year 2024, beginning Oct. 1, 2023. The State Department previously reported that the retrogression “became necessary” because India’s EB-3 number use has been “consistently robust.” More information regarding the upcoming India EB-3 retrogression is available here.

BAL Analysis: On occasion, the State Department is able to allocate additional unused EB-3 visas to countries that have reached their allotted limit; however, due to “sufficient worldwide EB-3 demand” the Department is unable to do so at this time. As a reminder, while the Final Action Date is expected to advance in October for India EB-3, the movement of the date depends on variables such as visa demand and the Employment-Based annual limit. BAL will continue to monitor visa bulletin developments and will provide updates as information becomes available.

This alert has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice Group. For additional information, please contact berryapplemanleiden@bal.com.

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