Annual Limit Reached in the EB-4 Category: What This Means for Immigrants and Employers
Categories: EB-4 Visa , Fiscal Year 2025 , Immigration Law , Visa Cap
The United States Department of State (DOS) announced on February 28, 2025, that all available immigrant visas in the Employment-Based Fourth Preference (EB-4) category have been issued and exhausted for fiscal year (FY) 2025. This significant development affects various special immigrants, religious workers, and other qualified individuals who fall under this visa category.
Why Has the Limit Been Reached?
The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) strictly regulates the number of employment-based preference immigrant visas that may be issued within a fiscal year. Section 203(b)(4) of the INA specifically allocates 7.1 percent of the worldwide employment limit to EB-4 visas.
This statutory cap means that only a limited number of EB-4 visas can be issued each fiscal year, regardless of demand. Once this cap is reached, no additional visas can be issued until the next fiscal year begins. In this fiscal year, the demand for EB-4 visas has been overwhelming.
For those individual currently in the EB-4 pipeline, it is important to recognize that pending EB-4 applications will experience delays in visa issuance as U.S. embassies and consulates worldwide as they will not issue any additional EB-4 visas for the remainder of FY 2025, which ends on September 30, 2025.
Looking Ahead
The annual limits will reset with the start of the new fiscal year (FY 2026) on October 1, 2025. At that point, embassies and consulates may resume issuing immigrant visas in this category to qualified applicants.
If you have questions or concerns about how the EB-4 visa cap affects your specific situation, please contact our office to schedule a consultation. Our experienced immigration department is ready to help you understand your options. We encourage our readers to check our website regularly for updates on this and all matters regarding immigration law.