Immigration Agency Races to Issue 280,000 Available Green Cards

A record surplus of employment-based green cards available this year is putting the pressure on top immigration agency officials to issue all available visas before the fiscal year ends.

More than 66,000 employment-based green cards went to waste last yearas US Citizenship and Immigration Services officials worked through massive pandemic-driven backlogs and an unprecedented number of petitions for work visas.

The agency faces an even bigger workload this year than last—280,000 green cards compared to 262,000 in fiscal 2021—but said it’s well-positioned to issue all of the available visas before the fiscal year ends Sept. 30.

The unprecedented number ...