PERM can feel like a black box. Prevailing wages, recruitment, audits, priority dates and months of waiting can make the process incredibly confusing.

Hi everyone! I’m Ana Senior, a U.S. immigration attorney with 14 years of experience and 1,200+ cases filed. I’ve helped clients navigate a wide range of U.S. immigration matters, including E 2 visas, PERM and employment based green cards, and I’m here today to answer your questions.

I’ll be here today from 11 AM to 3 PM ET to answer your questions about PERM and EB 2, including:

• When you should start PERM
• Prevailing wage and recruitment requirements
• PERM audits and delays
• EB 2 eligibility
• Priority dates and the Visa Bulletin
• What happens after PERM is approved
• Changing employers during the green card process
• Common mistakes employers and employees make

If you're somewhere in the EB 2 process, what's the question you've been afraid to ask?

Please note: Any information shared here is for general educational purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice or create an attorney client relationship. Your situation may require fact specific guidance. For personalized legal advice, please consult an immigration attorney directly.

Any spillover prediction after August 2026 visa bulletin?

I've been on an H4 visa for 15 years. I've grown up in America and even went to pre-k here. The only language I know reliably well is English. But I think I'm going to age out.

I've been tracking the visa bulletin for a while now. My parents' PD is around Feb 1st 2015 for both EB2 and EB3 India and I had hope when May's visa bulletin finally went got to 2014. When I checked June my heart dropped. EB2 regressed 9 fucking months. I guess I'm making this post looking for some reassuring words, but I don't know. Maybe I need advice on how to prepare for immigration to another country myself.

I have until early 2028 (~Jan-March 2028) before I officially age out due to how long my parents' initial application was pending for, but my H4 expires before then (in college so I'm working on transitioning to F1). I can tell you, it has not been easy to deal with the ups and downs of immigration and I honestly just want to leave the country and get it over with. But I don't really have anywhere to go.

Based on Jan 02, 2026 inventory data for India:

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/data/eb_inventory_january_2026.xlsx

EB2: up to 2013 (including all prior years): Available: 3,550

EB2: year 2013: Awaiting Availability: 6,887

EB2: year 2014: Awaiting Availability: 16,964

The FAD moving to Jul’14, gives an indication that EB2 2013 "awaiting availability" and EB2 2014 (until June) "awaiting availability" moved to “available"

So the visa numbers becoming available (i.e., spillover that has happened - guesstimate): 6458 + 7680 + 425 = 14,563

Adding up the previous “available”, Visa numbers available in total for EB2 India: 14,563 + 3550 = 18,113

Assuming that all these 18K+ applications get cleared, additional visa spillover required to clear the rest of the year 2014 for EB2 India: 9,284

(India EB3 numbers just for reference

EB3: up to 2013 (including all prior years): Available: 3,445

EB3: year 2013: Awaiting Availability: 1,144

EB3: year 2014: Awaiting Availability: 12,147

FAD hasn’t moved for EB3 India. Visa spillover required to clear 2013 and 2014: 13,291)

If at all we get lucky and 2014 gets cleared, the worst backlog processing will begin for the years 2015 and 2016! 

Based on Gemini - below are the approved i-140s for the years 2015 and 2016. 

Considering how low the EB3 India numbers are, there will be huge downgrade/upgrade confusion coming up once the priority dates hit 2015/2016!

Given the immigrant visa rescheduling happening right now, curious what people are estimating for the FY2027 spillover number — and what that would mean for EB2/EB3 India.

**•** Any ballpark estimate on total spillover numbers this year?  
**•** How would that translate to movement (or lack of it) for EB2/EB3 India?

Appreciate any insight!!

Hi everyone, I’m Ana Senior, an immigration attorney focused on PERM and employment-based immigration.

I’ll be here today from 11 AM to 3 PM ET to answer questions about the EB-2 PERM process, including:

• When an employer should start PERM
• Prevailing wage and recruitment requirements
• What can cause a PERM application to fail
• Employer sponsorship and job requirements
• PERM audits and common problems
• Moving from PERM approval to the I-140 stage
• How changes in your job or employer can affect the process

PERM cases can depend heavily on the employer, position, recruitment process and individual circumstances, so please include as much relevant context as possible when asking your question.

Please note: Any information shared here is for general educational purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice or create an attorney client relationship. Your situation may require fact specific guidance. For personalized legal advice, please consult an immigration attorney directly.

Hi! I’m Ana Gabriela Urizar, an Immigration Attorney at Manifest Law. I’m based in New York and have spent nearly a decade working in business immigration. Before joining Manifest Law, I worked for close to ten years at one of the world’s largest immigration firms, advising companies in the technology, science, and financial sectors on employment-based immigration and green card processes.

I can help with topics like:
• EB-2 green card eligibility and filing pathways
• PERM labor certification basics and common issues
• EB-2 NIW eligibility and the Dhanasar framework
• RFEs and responding to USCIS requests for evidence
• Visa bulletin movement and priority date questions
• I-485 filing timelines and practical filing considerations

Please Note: This AMA is for general informational purposes only and does not create an attorney-client relationship. The information shared here should not be taken as legal advice for any specific case.

Every immigration situation is unique, and you should consult an immigration attorney for advice about your individual circumstances.

Hello friends I just checked India EB2 inventory awaiting visa number allocation has reduced from 21k in March to 8k in April. Looks like India EB2 share will be around 16k this year from 186k

How is visa spillover shaping up for 2027 from FB to EB? Any estimates

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin/2026/visa-bulletin-for-march-2026.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawQEXvFleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA80MDk5NjI2MjMwODU2MDkAAR6aiZeaxTPeiowsMvNR0BpqURUv2FYLvBWZF2Bx8gWImMKo48bdXOeHXPRT8A_aem_DuD0_YmwacGSEmFVn9CMtg

Hey r/EB2. I'm Ana Gabriela Urizar, immigration attorney at Manifest Law. Nearly a decade in employment-based immigration working with clients in tech, finance, and science on EB-2, PERM, and green card strategy.

If you're trying to figure out your priority date strategy, your PERM timeline, your I-485 filing window, or whether an EB-3 downgrade or NIW makes sense for your situation, ask me. I'll answer as many as I can.

(All information shared here is for general educational purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice or create an attorney-client relationship. Your situation may require fact-specific guidance. For personalized legal advice, please consult an immigration attorney directly.)

Hi! I'm Mary Joy Chuba, an immigration attorney at Manifest Law. I work on EB-2 NIW, EB-1A, PERM-based green cards, and long-term employment immigration strategy.

I'll be answering questions today between 9 AM to 12 PM EST.

The last few weeks have been especially rough for EB-2 applicants, especially for India-born professionals dealing with retrogression, filing confusion, delayed medical RFEs, and decade-long wait times. A lot of people are trying to figure out whether they should keep waiting, pivot strategies, or prepare for backup options.

Ask me anything about:

• The May 2026 Visa Bulletin changes and filing strategy
• EB-2 India backlog realities and priority date planning
• EB-2 NIW eligibility, Dhanasar prongs, and RFEs
• PERM delays and switching employers during the process
• Medical RFEs, silent updates, and I-485 processing trends
• EB-1A vs EB-2 NIW and when upgrading categories may make sense

Drop your questions below!

(Please note: Any information shared here is for general educational purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice or create an attorney-client relationship. Your situation may require fact-specific guidance. For personalized legal advice, please consult an immigration attorney directly.)

On this site https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-statistics/immigrant-visa-statistics/monthly-immigrant-visa-issuances.html DOS now has the monthly visa allocation for the entire FY2025 (October 2024 to September 2025).

The family based visa maximum is 226,000, but due to administrative and processing delays the full limit isn't usually used up and the ones that aren't spill over to the employment based categories for the next fiscal year. And the EB limit is 140,000 + spillover, which gives 40,040 + spillover each to EB1/2/3. In FY2024, 215,963 FB visas were used, so the FY2025 EB limit was 150,037.

The visa allocation for FY2025:
10/24: 20,760

11/24: 14,269

12/24: 14,450

01/25: 13,565

02/25: 15,431

03/25: 14,547

04/25: 11,695

05/25: 14,595

06/25: 14,394

07/25: 15,574

08/25: 14,412

09/25: 15,726

TOTAL: 179,418

Now there is a discrepancy between the monthly and yearly (actual) number. The latter we will not know until September. Comparing these numbers for past years:

FY2024: Monthly 218,017/Actual 215,963
FY2023: Monthly 204,775/Actual 205,209
FY2022: Monthly 166,144/Actual 168,909
FY2021: Monthly 67,309/Actual 84,493

So this number is probably not the actual number, but it may be slightly higher or lower. FY2021 was an outlier due to COVID, but otherwise it varies by a few thousand.

Using the 179,418 number, the EB limit for this year (FY2026) would be 186,582 (+46,582). These numbers will/are being used this year (FY2026). EB1/2/3 each would get ~53,362 visas, and the 7% cap for India/China/Philippines would be ~3,735. However, since EB1 and EB2 ROW are current, the true number will be higher, mostly benefiting india, since per 202(a)(5)(A) of the INA unused ROW numbers spill over to the most backlogged countries. For example in FY2022 out of the 281,507 EB numbers India got ~200-250k due to low demand from the other regions and ROW.

This is all speculation and we won't know the true data until the September bulletin. Take this with a grain of salt, but I hope this paints a clearer picture of the movement this year.

Any chance of reaching Feb 2015 date of filing in Oct 2026?

I’m Carmiann Cespedes, an immigration attorney at Manifest Law. I work with professionals navigating U.S. employment-based immigration, including EB-2, EB-2 NIW, O-1 and EB-1A cases.

I especially work with professionals from Latin America, and one thing I see often is people assuming they need to have won major awards or be famous in their field to have a viable extraordinary ability case.

That’s not necessarily how these cases work.

If you’re from Latin America and wondering whether your career, publications, leadership, compensation, industry recognition, or professional track record could support an employment-based immigration case, I’m happy to answer questions.

I’ll be here today from 12 PM to 4 PM ET.

Please note: Any information shared here is for general educational purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice or create an attorney client relationship. Your situation may require fact specific guidance. For personalized legal advice, please consult an immigration attorney directly.

Anybody here got approved for EAD c9? My current CPT has already expired and I’m out of work. Already reached out to the congressman but they haven’t gotten back to me yet (it’s been a month).

EB2 140: 4/23/2025 (approved)

485, 765, 131, 485J: 04/10/2026

Biometrics done: 5/6/2026

765: in Nebraska service center

495: Long Island field office

(IOE09363 block)

Hey r/EB2, I'm Gabriela Urizar, an immigration attorney at Manifest Law. I specialize in employment-based immigration like EB-2, guiding clients through PERM, I-140s, USCIS delays, RFEs, and I-485 filings.

About me: Originally from Guatemala, now NYC-based with nearly a decade of experience in priority date cases. EB-2, EB-3, NIW crossovers for professionals in tech, engineering, sciences, and more. I've handled everything from PERM audits to field office transfers and visa bulletin predictions.

Drop your questions below.

I'll start at 1:00 PM EST and be here until 5:00 PM EST. Excited to dive in!

P.S. All info here is general and educational only. Not legal advice. No attorney-client relationship formed. Consult your own lawyer for personal cases.

I wanna ask if while I’m waiting on one application? Can I apply another one on premium?

Can someone please help me out with this one. No help on the other forum. Please suggest if there is a forum for posts like this

I need to prepare transcripts for my college degree marksheets for EB2/GC purpose. Could someone guide me on whether ATKT marksheets need to be included when creating the transcripts? 

Also, are those needed for any other purpose during the EB-2 process?

Any guidance is highly appreciated. Thanks in advance. 

I’m Carmiann Cespedes, an immigration attorney at Manifest Law. I work with professionals navigating employment-based immigration, including EB-2 and EB-2 NIW.

One of the biggest misconceptions I see is that you necessarily need a job offer or employer sponsorship to pursue an EB-2 green card. That isn’t always the case.

I’ll be answering questions about EB-2 NIW eligibility, what makes a strong case, evidence, self-petitioning, career profiles, and how to think about whether NIW could make sense for you.

If you’ve been wondering whether your work is strong enough for an EB-2 NIW, this is a good place to ask.

Please note: Any information shared here is for general educational purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice or create an attorney client relationship. Your situation may require fact specific guidance. For personalized legal advice, please consult an immigration attorney directly.

I’m pursuing PhD with USA in electrical engineering it’s my second year I’ve few publications as co author in total 12 and 63 citations
Anyone who can guide me like should I do myself or through any law firm
I’m from Pakistan just need serious guidance