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Fact check: What were the US immigration quota numbers for 2022?
Executive Summary
The United States set the FY2022 employment-based immigrant visa annual limit at 281,507, more than double a typical year because unused family-sponsored numbers from FY2021 were reallocated; agencies used essentially all of those employment-based numbers except 6,396 EB‑5 visas rolled over by congressional allowance [1] [2]. The Department of State determined the FY2022 family-sponsored annual limit at 226,000, of which 168,917 visas were used by the end of the fiscal year on September 30, 2022, reflecting continued pandemic-era disruption in consular processing and backlog dynamics [2] [1].
1. A Big One-Time Spike: Why FY2022 Employment Caps Exploded
The headline figure for FY2022 was an employment-based limit of 281,507, roughly twice the usual annual total because of a statutory mechanism that reallocates unused family-sponsored visa numbers to the employment-based pool. Agencies attributed the surge to the near-total nonuse of about 140,000 family-sponsored numbers in FY2021, driven by consular closures and pandemic-era processing delays; those unused slots then became available to adjust status applicants in FY2022, producing the unusually large employment-based cap [1]. This reallocation is a one-time technical effect of how immigrant visa numbers are computed across family and employment categories, not a permanent policy decision to expand employment immigration, and agencies reported deploying nearly the entire pool during FY2022 [2].
2. The Narrow Exception: EB‑5 Carryover and Utilization Patterns
Despite broad utilization, agencies did not exhaust every available employment-based number: 6,396 EB‑5 visas were allowed by Congress to carry over to the following fiscal year, creating a small residual that shows Congress exercised targeted discretion within the overall adjustment process. The carryover highlights how statutory limits, congressional action, and administrative allocation interact: while most employment categories were consumed as expected given the reallocation windfall, EB‑5 retained a distinct treatment that affected final tallies and planning for FY2023 processing [2]. The EB‑5 carve-out underscores that headline totals mask category-specific outcomes important for investors, employers, and applicants.
3. Family-Sponsored Numbers Still Large but Underused
The Department of State’s calculation placed the FY2022 family-sponsored annual limit at 226,000, and agencies reported using 168,917 of those visas by September 30, 2022, leaving a substantial remainder that contributed to the employment reallocation story. The underuse traces back to pandemic-related consular closures and backlog accumulation during FY2021, which prevented typical issuance levels for family-based categories; that shortfall then mechanically increased employment-based availability in FY2022 through the statutory spillover process [2] [1]. The family-side utilization figure shows that while the numerical ceiling remained high, operational constraints — not legal limits — primarily drove actual issuance patterns.
4. Agencies’ Narrative vs. The Technical Mechanics: Two Angles on One Outcome
Agencies framed FY2022’s employment total as a function of administrative uptake of available numbers, emphasizing that they used nearly all of the employment-based visas created by the spillover and that remaining EB‑5 numbers were carried forward by congressional action [2]. The technical explanation is straightforward: unused family numbers from FY2021 augmented the available employment pool in FY2022 under existing statutory mechanisms, creating a one-year spike. Observers focused on the policy implication saw both a temporary relief valve for long-adjustment queues and a reminder that statutory formulas, not ad hoc rulemaking, drove that particular increase [1] [2].
5. What This Means Going Forward: Backlogs, One‑Time Effects, and Monitoring
The FY2022 figures represent a one-time rebalancing rather than a structural expansion of employment immigration; the mechanics that produced 281,507 employment-based slots are tied to the throughput of family categories in prior years and to pandemic-era disruptions [1]. Stakeholders should therefore treat FY2022 as a scheduling anomaly with short-term effects on adjustment-of-status processing and visa backlogs; long-term visa availability will revert to statutory ceilings and carryover patterns absent similar systemic disruptions. Policymakers and applicants need to monitor category-specific carryovers like the EB‑5 exception because these granular deviations materially affect specific applicant groups even when headline totals dominate public attention [2].