US Halts EB-1 Green Cards Until October 2025 After Reaching Annual Visa Cap

The United States is the second major employment-based category to reach its annual quota of weeks and officially halted EB-1 green card processing until October 1, 2025. On September 8, 2025, the US State Department, in a partnership with US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), reported that all the EB-1visas are exhausted through fiscal year 2025.

This decision follows the prior suspension of the EB-2 category of November 4, 2025, which presented unprecedented challenges to the skilled professionals worldwide, particularly to nationals of India who already experience a decades-long queue in the US immigration system.

Understanding the EB-1 Category Suspension

The most desirable form of immigration to America is Employment-Based First Preference (EB-1), offered to individuals who can demonstrate outstanding expertise in the sciences, arts, education, business or even sports. The distinguished professors, researchers and multinational executives or managers fall under the category.

EB-1 in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) receives 28.6 per cent of all immigrant visas relating to employment worldwide. In addition, fourth (EB-4) and fifth (EB-5) preference category visas not used are converted into EB-1, traditionally the richest category of employment in terms of visas.

However, these growing requirements in the fiscal year 2025 have already depleted even this augmented daily allocation until the end of September 2025, and further issuance of visas has to be entirely suspended until October 1, 2025.

Also Read: How Many Types of Visas are in the USA? New Full Expert Guide

Key Suspension Details

This table contains all key suspension details:

Impact on Indian Professionals

This suspension negatively affects Indian nationals because of the per-country caps and immense backlogs. The Visa Bulletin of September 2025 has no change to the final action dates of Indian EB-1 applicants, whose cutoff date has been held at February 15, 2022.

This implied that only Indian applicants who had previously had I-140 petitions approved by February 15, 2022, could be final processed before the suspension. The later-priority holders now have at least a wait time of October 2025 before any possible movement.

Current Backlog Statistics for Indian Applicants

This table shows the current backlog statistics for Indian applicants:

Comparison: EB-1 and EB-2 Suspensions

The EB-2 category had the first cap on September 4, 2025, and the EB-1 less than a week later. The two types are now entirely inactive until September 30, 2025.

EB-2 mainly targets the highly skilled persons, whereas EB-1 targets those of the highest calibre. The depletion of the two types in a short period signifies the unmatched demand for employment-based immigration in fiscal year 2025.

Also Read: Cost of Transit Visa for USA: New Fees & Process Guide

Differences Between Categories

This table highlights the differences between categories:

What Happens During the Suspension?

The US embassies and consulates worldwide cannot arrange interviews or issue immigrant visas in the EB-1 category until September 30, 2025. Likewise, USCIS cannot grant adjustment of status applications even to those with a current priority date.

Nevertheless, the USCIS has been receiving new adjustment of status applications on behalf of individuals who are up to date in the Visa Bulletin of September. Such applications will be kept pending adjudication until 1 October 2025.

Those applicants who have been scheduled to participate in the interview can attend, but no approvals should be made until the new fiscal year. Other USCIS officers can opt to reschedule interviews altogether because of the quota that is filled.

Processing Resume Timeline

Automatic renewal of the visa limit. The visa limits are reset every year, on October 1, 2025, at the beginning of the fiscal year 2026. At this stage, a new batch of visa allocations will be done in EB-1 and EB-2,-2 and the process will again be taken up.

Priority dates can move slightly in October 2025, but there is unlikely to be much noticeable progress due to the enormous outstanding backlogs. During the waiting period, immigration attorneys suggest that one remain in a valid status and keep the records current.

Recommended Actions for Applicants

Here are some recommended actions for applicants:

• Sustain lawful immigration during the suspension.

• Maintain all the documentation and prepare it to be processed.

• When options are premium, processing is possible when urgent cases are present.

• Inquire about other types of visas in case of eligibility.

• Starting October 2025, watch visa bulletin updates.

Alternative Categories Still Available

EB-1 and EB-2 are nonexistent, but other unskilled-based employment categories are being processed as they are available. The EB-5 investor category has experienced new developments in recent years, with Indian applicants experiencing a series of several months of improvement in the date of final action in August 2025.

EB-3 and EB-4 categories also remain in use, but generally require a longer wait time and other eligibility criteria than the suspended categories.

Also Read: Difference Between B1 and B2 Visa USA: Experts New Guide

Historical Context and Future Implications

This is the first year in several years that both the categories of EB-1 and EB-2 have already been adjusted to the yearly limit before the end of the fiscal year. As warned in the September Visa Bulletin, most employment-related categories may reach their limits by August or September because of the heightened demand.

The fast exhaustion underscores long-term structural issues with the US employment-based immigration system, specifically, the per-country restrictions that have a disproportionately negative impact on Indian and Chinese citizens. These yearly suspensions can increase without legislative change, with the demand only growing.

Contributing Factors

Here are some contributing factors to keep in mind:

• Increased demand from skilled professionals globally

• Pandemic-related processing delays are creating backlogs

• Per-country limits constraining certain nationalities

• Limited annual visa allocations set by decades-old legislation

• Spillover effects from other categories

Conclusion

The US suspends EB-1 green cards until October 2025, and EB-2 is in total suspension, which underlines the necessity of comprehensive immigration reform. This record suspension affects thousands of professional officers worldwide, and Indian applicants are most affected by the backlogs and per-country restrictions.

Although the processing will restart on October 1, 2025, the structural problems that lead to these regular pauses should be addressed on the legislative level to avoid job interruptions similar to those in the immigration system in America, where employment is the key. Contact TerraTern for more information!