US Green Card Wait Time: Indians Face Potential 179-Year Delay in EB-2 Category

Indian professionals seeking a US green card could face a potential wait of 179 years if they are in the employment-based second preference (EB-2) category, according to the latest analysis by the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP), Hindustan Times reported. The estimate applies to high-skilled applicants from India with a labor certification application or employment-based immigrant petition filed in January 2026 or later.

The backlog is particularly large for Indian applicants. NFAP estimates that 996,599 people from India, including principals and dependents, were waiting in the employment-based immigration backlog as of December 2025. That represented about 79% of the estimated 1,264,495 people in the first three employment-based preference categories. H-1B Visa: US Clears Plan To Scrap 60-Day Grace Period – What It Means for Indian Workers.

What Is A US Green Card?

A green card gives a foreign national permanent resident status in the United States. It allows eligible immigrants to live and work permanently in the country, subject to US immigration rules.

For Indian professionals, employment-based immigration is one of the main routes to permanent residency. Applicants are divided into preference categories based on their qualifications, employment and other criteria. H1B Visa: US May End 60-Day Grace Period After Job Loss, Indian Workers Could Be Hit Hard.

Why Could An Indian Applicant Face A 179-Year Wait?

The exceptionally long estimate is linked to the combination of annual employment-based visa limits and per-country limits. US law provides an annual limit of 140,000 employment-based immigrant visas. That figure includes principal applicants as well as their dependent family members. The per-country limit generally restricts nationals of any one country to no more than 7% of employment-based immigrant visas available in a fiscal year.

The limits have a particularly significant effect on applicants from India because demand for employment-based permanent residence is much larger than the number of visas available to Indian nationals under the existing system. NFAP says the employment-based backlog in the first three preference categories increased from an estimated 1,048,342 in April 2020 to 1,264,495 in December 2025, a 20.6% increase. The EB-2 backlog rose 22.9% during that period, while the EB-3 backlog increased 30.1%.

Is The 179-Year Wait For Every Indian Applicant?

No. The 179-year figure is a potential estimate for Indian applicants in EB-2 who have a labor certification application or employment-based immigrant petition filed in January 2026 or later.

Waiting times vary depending on the employment-based category, country of chargeability and an applicant's priority date. NFAP estimates that an Indian applicant filing in 2026 could face a potential wait of about 4 to 5 years in EB-1, 179 years in EB-2 and 38 years in EB-3.

NFAP also cautions that the estimates are affected by factors including future changes in immigration law, the number of applicants who abandon their cases and the availability of additional employment-based green cards.

What Are EB-1, EB-2 And EB-3?

The three categories cover different groups of employment-based immigrants.

EB-1 is the first preference category. It includes people with extraordinary ability, outstanding professors and researchers, and certain multinational executives and managers.

EB-2 generally covers professionals with advanced degrees or individuals with exceptional ability. It also includes some applicants whose work is considered to be in the US national interest.

EB-3 covers professionals, skilled workers and certain other workers. The latest NFAP analysis estimates that the EB-2 category has the longest potential wait for Indian applicants filing in 2026 or later.

How Large Is India's Green Card Backlog?

NFAP estimates that 996,599 people from India were in the employment-based backlog as of December 2025. Of that total, an estimated 731,566 were in EB-2 and 213,414 were in EB-3. The EB-1 backlog was estimated at 51,619.

The total Indian backlog increased by about 19.3% from an estimated 835,255 in April 2020 to 996,599 in December 2025. The EB-2 backlog alone rose by 17.6%, while the EB-3 backlog increased by 51.1% during the same period.

How Did The Indian Backlog Become So Large?

The backlog has accumulated over many years as the number of approved employment-based applications has exceeded the number of green cards that can be issued to Indian applicants. NFAP points to fiscal year 2016 as an example. USCIS approved 47,601 EB-2 applications for Indians that year. After accounting for dependents, NFAP estimated that this represented 98,594 people.

However, only 4,407 people from India received permanent residence through EB-2 that year. NFAP therefore estimated that more than 90,000 people were potentially added to the backlog in FY 2016 alone.  The pattern continued in FY 2017 and FY 2018. NFAP estimated that 84,928 Indians were approved in EB-2 in 2017, compared with 3,328 who received permanent residence. In 2018, the corresponding figures were 80,999 approvals and 4,527 permanent residents.

Why The Annual Visa Limit Matters

The 140,000 annual employment-based limit was established by Congress in 1990 and includes both principal applicants and their dependent family members.

NFAP says dependents typically account for half or more of the available employment-based visa slots. The report argues that the annual limit has not kept pace with demand for skilled foreign workers.

The per-country limit adds another constraint. Under the current system, countries with large numbers of employment-based applicants can face much longer waits than countries with smaller demand. India, China and the Philippines are among the countries most affected.

The waiting period is closely connected to an applicant's priority date and the US Department of State's monthly Visa Bulletin. According to NFAP, as of the August 2026 Visa Bulletin, an Indian applicant seeking adjustment of status needed a priority date earlier than October 15, 2022, for EB-1. EB-2 was listed as unavailable in August, while the June 2026 bulletin had listed September 1, 2013. For EB-3, the relevant date was January 1, 2014. NFAP notes that applicants with older priority dates can face substantially shorter waits than someone filing in 2025 or 2026.

The NFAP estimates indicate that the broader employment-based backlog could exceed 2 million by 2040 without changes to US immigration law. As of December 2025, the estimated backlog across the first three employment-based categories stood at more than 1.26 million.

The report also notes that more than 280,000 additional employment-based green cards were issued above the normal 140,000 annual level between fiscal years 2020 and 2024 because of unused family-based visa numbers. Even with those additional green cards, the employment-based backlog increased.

For Indian professionals, the latest figures underscore the scale of the challenge facing applicants seeking permanent residence through the employment-based system, particularly those in EB-2 and EB-3.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 03, 2026 07:49 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).