If a retrogression happens, and the priority dates are pushed back to May 1, 2019, only the applications before the priority date will be processed, and the applicants who have application date after the priority date must wait until their date is mentioned in the bulletin.
Hyderabad: People applying for the EB-5 visa programme, the renowned green card, will have to face further delays — at least by six months — as the United States has implemented yet another retrogression for Indian applicants, citing a large number of applicants.
This means that even if they were close to receiving their green card, the applicants may now face additional months or even years of waiting.
The EB-5 visa has been retrogressed from November 1, 2019, to May 1, 2019, pushing back the priority date to six more months. In April, the EB-5 visa was retrogressed by more than two years, from January 1, 2019 to November 1, 2019.
A visa retrogression occurs when the US government moves the priority dates for certain green card categories backwards, effectively extending the wait time for applicants. This happens when the number of applications in a particular visa category, or from a specific country exceeds the annual limit set by law.
The US department of state (DoS) stated that each year, only a fixed number of immigrant visas (green cards) are issued, and when demand exceeds supply, they slow down the visa processing by retrogressing the cut-off dates. The DoS will only consider applications before the priority date which are released in the visa bulletin, and only those applications whose date is released in the bulletin will be processed.
If a retrogression happens, and the priority dates are pushed back to May 1, 2019, only the applications before the priority date will be processed, and the applicants who have application date after the priority date must wait until their date is mentioned in the bulletin.
For example, if the bulletin showed that applicants with a priority date of January 2022 were eligible to apply, the date was retrogressed to May 2019. Then, only the applicants with a priority date of May 2019 or earlier can process their visa applications.
The EB-5 visas, including C5 (non-targeted employment area investment), T5 (targeted employment area investment), I5 (immigrant investor pilot programme), R5 (pilot programme), NU (unreserved visa under EB-5 Reform And Integrity Act of 2022) and RU (reserved visa) will be hit with retrogression.
The DoS has stated that high demand and number of applications from India in the EB-5 visa category is the reason for retrogression in May. The DoS also stated that it could also establish a final action date for the rest of the world if demand and number use continues to increase. They said the situation is continually monitored, and any necessary adjustments will be made accordingly.
