See also: WR Immigration Files Lawsuit to Stop Wastage of EB-5 Investor Visas U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that the overall employment-based annual limit for immigrant visas in fiscal year (FY) 2022 is approximately twice as high as usual, primarily due to consular closures abroad during the COVID-19 pandemic. USCIS said it is “dedicated to ensuring we use as many available employment-based visas as possible in FY 2022,” which ends on September 30, 2022. USCIS explained that the annual limit for employment-based immigrant visa use in FY 2021 was 262,288, nearly double the typical annual total. Overall, USCIS and the Department of State (DOS) combined to use 195,507 employment-based immigrant visas in FY 2021. DOS issued 19,779 employment-based immigrant visas, and USCIS used 175,728 employment-based immigrant visas through adjustment of status, more than 52% higher than the average before the pandemic. Despite agency efforts, 66,781immigrant visas went unused at the end of FY 2021, USCIS said. DOS has determined that the FY 2022 employment-based annual limit is 281,507 (slightly more than double the typical annual total) due to unused family-based immigrant visa numbers from FY 2021 being allocated to the current fiscal year’s available employment-based immigrant visas. Through […]