USCIS is encouraging eligible applicants to consider transferring the underlying basis of their adjustment of status application to the first or second employment-based preference categories. The first preference category is for priority workers, the second preference category is for noncitizens in professions with advanced degrees or with exceptional abilities. USCIS is asking this of eligible applicants because there is a very large number of employment-based immigrant visas available in these categories during this fiscal year of October 2021 through September 2022.
The overall employment-based limit for the fiscal year 2022 has been doubled, because the limit includes all the unused family-sponsored visa numbers from fiscal year 2021, which was 140,000.
Under the relevant rules, any visas that are not required in the fifth employment-based preference category are made available in the first employment-based preference category, and any visas that are not required in the first preference category are made available in the second preference category. These visas cannot be made available to applicants that are in the third preference category because of the significant number of noncitizens awaiting visas in the second preference category, the visas are required to be used for the second category.
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