The EB-2 priority dates have moved to “current” for most countries except for India and China. Experts explain if this spillover of unused family-based visas into the employment-based category can still benefit H-1B holders.
“Think of the green card system as two buckets—family and employment. If the family bucket isn’t filled, the leftover visas flow into the employment bucket the next year.” – Nandini Nair, immigration attorney
The March Visa Bulletin brought along a news no one was expecting. For those working on visas in the U.S. and are in the long line for the green card, the development is massive and something that has not happened in years.
For now, EB-1 and EB-2 — the employment-based immigrant visa categories leading to permanent residency are current. Even though in the March bulletin EB-2 is current for all countries except for India and China, it does signal a potential movement ahead.
But what does this new development mean for employers, employees, start-up founders many of them who couldn’t move forward given the uncertainty. As per experts the move does bring positive movement and those with an eligibility to file for an adjustment of status must move fast.
Immigration attorney Nandini Nair, partner at New York based A.Y. Strauss says, “We saw meaningful forward movement in EB-2 this March because overall visa demand dropped. The pause on immigrant visa processing for nationals of about 75 countries slowed down overseas usage of employment-based numbers. That gave the government room to move the priority dates ahead more than usual.”
However, to make the most of the open window it is essential to first understand how and why this movement is created. Immigration attorney Nair explains the process in simple terms using an example.
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She says, “Think of the green card system like two buckets — one for family visas and one for employment visas. If the family bucket doesn’t get filled because processing slows down or pauses, the leftover water doesn’t disappear. It gets poured into the employment bucket the next year. And when that employment bucket gets bigger, it helps people stuck in long lines — especially Indian professionals who’ve been waiting for years — finally move forward.”
Particularly for H-1B holders, a large majority of whom are from India, how does this movement help, given the EB-2 dates for India are not current?
Leandro Carvalho, attorney at Florida based Dell’Ome Law Firm that specializes in Immigration and Tax Law explains, “In the March 2026 Visa Bulletin the priority date for EB-2 green cards advanced by one year for India, this would allow eligible applicants to file for adjustment of status sooner.” He adds, “While this creates a potential window of opportunity for eligible applicants but these windows may be short-lived.”
Experts view this movement as a potential to create forward movement for Indians in the near future. Nair says, “This kind of movement signals that additional visa numbers are available and may give long-waiting Indian nationals a real opportunity to file adjustment-of-status applications in the up-coming year.”