Indians hold 91 pc of US EB-2 green card backlog: USCIS data
Washington, Nov 1 (IANS/WISHAVWARTA) Indian nationals account for about 91 per cent of approved advanced-degree green card petitions stuck waiting for a visa number, according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services data, underlining how per-country caps keep Indian professionals at the back of the queue.
USCIS data as of June 2026 show 391,296 approved petitions in the employment-based second preference (EB-2) category, for advanced-degree professionals, awaiting green cards. Of these, 356,360 were for people born in India, or about 91.1 per cent.
China accounted for 34,936 EB-2 petitions, or about 8.9 per cent. The data show no EB-2 petitions awaiting visas for Mexico, the Philippines or the rest of the world.
Across all employment-based categories, 856,662 approved I-140, I-360 and I-526 petitions were awaiting visa availability. India accounted for 491,773 of them, or about 57.4 per cent.
India also dominated the EB-3 skilled-worker and professional backlog, with 106,214 of 147,492 petitions, or about 72 per cent, and the EB-1 priority-worker category, with 17,861 of 31,962, about 56 per cent.
USCIS noted that the counts “represent only primary beneficiaries”, adding that “dependents”, including spouses and children, are “not included” as they would make the queue considerably longer.
The agency also cautioned that because petitioners can file more than one petition, the report “could contain multiple petitions for a single individual.” It excludes those who have already obtained permanent residency or citizenship.
The numbers are driven by a statutory limit under which no single country can receive more than 7 per cent of employment-based green cards in a year. With high demand from Indian professionals, many of whom first come on H-1B visas, Indians face the longest waits.
The State Department said earlier that the per-country limit for India in the EB-2 category had been reached for fiscal 2026, meaning no further India-chargeable EB-2 visas could be issued until fiscal 2027 began on October 1.
The backlog has persisted even as the administration tightens rules for the H-1B programme, the main pipeline for Indian professionals who later seek employer-sponsored green cards, and suspended several technology companies from the PERM labour certification programme in October.
