THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL 20 | OCTOBER 2025 Statements or opinions expressed in the Oklahoma Bar Journal are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Oklahoma Bar Association, its officers, Board of Governors, Board of Editors or staff. Whether a priority date is current depends on a monthly report issued by the U.S. Department of State (DOS), the Visa Bulletin.78 The Visa Bulletin details the availability of immigrant visas during a given month based on numbers established by the INA and based on the country of birth of the foreign worker.79 The number of allowable immigrant visas per year is established by the INA, and the visas are then allocated by the DOS.80 Employment-based immigrant visas are numerically limited, in contrast to other immigrant visa types that are numerically unlimited (for example, visas for immediate relatives of U.S. citizens are always available).81 These visas are then allocated into several subcategories (i.e., EB-1, EB-2, EB-3, etc.). Each subcategory receives a percentage of the total visa allotment, and there are limits to the number of visas that can be issued based on the foreign national’s country of birth.82 The DOS distributes visas based on the immigrant’s preference category, such as EB-3, country of birth and priority date, which, as stated previously, must be current before the immigrant can file the rest of the green card petitions and ultimately receive their permanent residency status.83 In general terms, there are about 140,00084 employment-based visas available per year, which must accommodate not only the large number of qualified workers with bachelor’s degrees or lower (including many engineers, IT workers and computer scientists) but also their dependent spouses and children.85 Congress has the authority to adjust the total number of employment-based visas to be allocated per year, and despite calls for an update, the current number has not been adjusted since 1990.86, 87 When the demand for these visas in a given category, such as the EB-3, is higher than the supply for a given country, the result is a backlogged or retrogressed visa category.88 In this situation, the employer cannot continue the green card process for the employee until the priority date is current.89 Typically, most employment-based categories are retrogressed for employees born in China, India, Mexico and the Philippines due to an overall higher number of applicants from those countries, so a long wait for citizens of these countries has become the norm.90 But for nurses from countries that are not typically retrogressed (also known as “all other chargeability areas”), priority dates become current more quickly, allowing the employer to file the rest of the green card applications much sooner, including the application for an EAD.91 If approved, the applicant is issued an EAD a few months later. Getting to this stage of the process is critical, especially for nurses in OPT status, because a timely filing of the I-765 before the OPT expires and subsequent receipt of the EAD prevents any gap in work authorization.92 In short, the faster the priority date becomes current, the faster the new work authorization can be requested. Clearly, the current system for securing green cards and work authorization for foreign nurses is complex and wrought with inefficiencies. But finding workable solutions may not be as complicated, and there are several options for improvement worth consideration.
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