‘Einstein visa’ applicant facing 10-year retrogression in US Green Card process

This unprecedented setback has left many baffled, given the category’s historical proximity to current status. Applicants with priority dates preceding the cut-off can apply, but the retrogression marks an unusual reversal in visa availability.

Until recently, the EB-1 category for India has been close to being current, but now it’s retrogressed by 10 years, surprising many. So what is causing the setback?

The EB-1 visa category, comprising EB-1A, EB-1B, and EB-1C sub-categories, has witnessed varying trends due to the pandemic. Notably, EB-1C, catering to multinational managers, experienced a slowdown during COVID-19, with fewer managers arriving in the US and seeking EB-1C sponsorship. Yet, as global travel resumed in 2022, more managers were dispatched to the US by companies, prompting a surge in EB-1C visa petitions for FY 2023. 

Aswini Thota, an AI and data analytics expert at Bose Corporation, while speaking to Times of India notes this shift, indicating an increased inclination of managers to pursue EB-1C petitions after successfully navigating pandemic challenges.

“One of my primary motivations for exploring the EB-2 NIW and EB-1A visas was the opportunity they offer for professional flexibility. While many visa categories like the regular EB-2, EB-3, EB-1B, and EB-1C are associated with specific employers, or tailored to certain job roles and locations, the EB-2 NIW and EB-1A visas recognise an individual’s unique skills and the potential contributions they can make to the US,” Thota told TOI.

Also, the accumulated expertise, skills, and reputation of Indians in the US for a decade, occupying leadership roles, also contributes to the setback.

“The credentials accumulated over the years can make some of these professionals eligible for exclusive visa categories such as EB1-A and EB1-B. As Indians in the US advance in their careers, they often take on leadership roles and perform responsibilities that make them exceptional. This is especially true for people in research-oriented careers,” he says. 

Many of the Indians who are eligible for an employment-based, first-preference visa possess extraordinary ability or are outstanding professors or researchers. For example Praneet Dutta, a Google DeepMind senior research engineer, graduated from Carnegie Mellon in 2018. He pursued the EB-1 Green Card path for “extraordinary ability,” though skeptically due to lacking a PhD or high executive role. Despite challenges, his application was approved in months, the TOI report says

However, many Indians are not as lucky as Dutta was with the EB-1 Green Card process and those who have a priority date after 2022, are now worst affected by the backlog. Arianna Efstathiou, an immigration attorney with David Hirson and Partners, LLP in California, told TOI, “Considering how quickly the EB-1A category has moved in the past; the 10-year retrogression was a significant blow for Indians who have been waiting for their priority dates to become current.”

She believes that the retrogression in the EB-1 visa category is due to high demand, resulting in a shortage of available visas for the current fiscal year. She suggest that the visa bulletin could have conveyed this without causing panic by using a different term. She also mention that some Indian applicants benefit from early priority dates carried over from EB-2 or EB-3 categories. 

However, there is a good news. The Department of State predicts that Indian EB-1 immigrant cut-off dates may revert to August 2023 levels in October 2023, signaling better prospects for the new fiscal year.

Updated: 28 Aug 2023, 01:41 PM IST