179-year wait: Green Card backlog traps nearly 1 million Indians, making up 79% of total queue
NFAP estimates that an Indian national whose employment-based petition or labor certification was filed in January 2026 or later faces a staggering potential wait of 179 years for permanent residency in the EB-2 category.
- Aug 28, 2026,
- Updated Aug 28, 2026 11:50 AM IST
A crippling bottleneck in the American immigration system has left nearly one million Indian professionals stranded in a multi-decade queue, transforming the pursuit of permanent residency into an virtually endless waiting game.
According to a policy brief released by the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) on August 26, 2026, Indian applicants now account for roughly 79% of all individuals waiting in the top three employment-based immigration tiers.
Wait times stretch across generations
The crisis is most acute for professionals entering the queue today. NFAP estimates that an Indian national whose employment-based petition or labor certification was filed in January 2026 or later faces a staggering potential wait of 179 years for permanent residency in the EB-2 category, which covers individuals holding advanced degrees or exceptional ability.
For those in the EB-3 category, the prospective wait stretches to 38 years. NFAP notes these figures reflect current conditions and could shift based on future visa availability, applicants abandoning the line, or statutory overhauls.
At the end of December 2025, the Indian EB-2 backlog alone stood at 731,566 individuals. The EB-3 backlog held 213,414 applicants, while the EB-1 category for priority workers contained 51,619. Together, the total backlog across all three categories reached 996,599 people.
Nationwide backlog continues to surge
This localised crisis forms part of a wider national backlog. NFAP data reveals that the overall employment-based backlog across EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3 surged from 1,048,342 in April 2020 to 1,264,495 by December 2025 — a 20.6% increase of 216,153 applicants in under six years.
DON'T MISS: US Visa Bulletin September 2026: Family green card dates jump, but Indian EB-1 applicants face fresh risk
Without policy intervention, NFAP projects the total employment-based queue could cross two million by 2040.
Structural bottlenecks & administrative delays
Two structural barriers drive these mounting delays.
First, Congress capped the annual allocation of employment-based immigrant visas at 140,000 in 1990 — a total that must cover both principal applicants and their dependents. Second, Section 202(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act imposes a 7% per-country limit, strictly capping the number of visas available to nationals of any single country, regardless of population or application volume.
DO CHECKOUT | From PhD delays to OPT uncertainty: How new US visa rules may force Indian students to rethink study abroad plans
This formula severely penalises applicants from high-demand nations like India, China, and the Philippines.
Even temporary infusions of extra capacity have failed to clear the pipeline. Between fiscal years 2020 and 2024, approximately 980,460 employment-based green cards were issued roughly 280,000 above the standard allocation, largely due to unused family-sponsored visas rolling over. Yet the queue continued to expand.
The delay is further compounded before applications even reach immigration authorities. The initial labor certification step (PERM) now consumes two to three years. By August 2026, Department of Labor processing averages spanned 403 days for analyst review and 290 days for audit review.
FIND OUT WHY | US H-1B visa rules tighten again: DHS proposes over $103,000 fee for applicants; What Indians should know
An urgent call for legislative overhaul
"These long waiting times for green cards create significant hardships for individuals and their families and undermine the ability of companies to attract and retain talent in America," said NFAP Executive Director Stuart Anderson.
NFAP concludes that administrative streamlining alone cannot resolve the structural breakdown. Because the root cause lies in statutory limits, meaningful relief for Indian professionals will remain out of reach without legislative reforms to expand visa numbers and remove per-country caps.
A crippling bottleneck in the American immigration system has left nearly one million Indian professionals stranded in a multi-decade queue, transforming the pursuit of permanent residency into an virtually endless waiting game.
According to a policy brief released by the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) on August 26, 2026, Indian applicants now account for roughly 79% of all individuals waiting in the top three employment-based immigration tiers.
Wait times stretch across generations
The crisis is most acute for professionals entering the queue today. NFAP estimates that an Indian national whose employment-based petition or labor certification was filed in January 2026 or later faces a staggering potential wait of 179 years for permanent residency in the EB-2 category, which covers individuals holding advanced degrees or exceptional ability.
For those in the EB-3 category, the prospective wait stretches to 38 years. NFAP notes these figures reflect current conditions and could shift based on future visa availability, applicants abandoning the line, or statutory overhauls.
At the end of December 2025, the Indian EB-2 backlog alone stood at 731,566 individuals. The EB-3 backlog held 213,414 applicants, while the EB-1 category for priority workers contained 51,619. Together, the total backlog across all three categories reached 996,599 people.
Nationwide backlog continues to surge
This localised crisis forms part of a wider national backlog. NFAP data reveals that the overall employment-based backlog across EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3 surged from 1,048,342 in April 2020 to 1,264,495 by December 2025 — a 20.6% increase of 216,153 applicants in under six years.
DON'T MISS: US Visa Bulletin September 2026: Family green card dates jump, but Indian EB-1 applicants face fresh risk
Without policy intervention, NFAP projects the total employment-based queue could cross two million by 2040.
Structural bottlenecks & administrative delays
Two structural barriers drive these mounting delays.
First, Congress capped the annual allocation of employment-based immigrant visas at 140,000 in 1990 — a total that must cover both principal applicants and their dependents. Second, Section 202(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act imposes a 7% per-country limit, strictly capping the number of visas available to nationals of any single country, regardless of population or application volume.
DO CHECKOUT | From PhD delays to OPT uncertainty: How new US visa rules may force Indian students to rethink study abroad plans
This formula severely penalises applicants from high-demand nations like India, China, and the Philippines.
Even temporary infusions of extra capacity have failed to clear the pipeline. Between fiscal years 2020 and 2024, approximately 980,460 employment-based green cards were issued roughly 280,000 above the standard allocation, largely due to unused family-sponsored visas rolling over. Yet the queue continued to expand.
The delay is further compounded before applications even reach immigration authorities. The initial labor certification step (PERM) now consumes two to three years. By August 2026, Department of Labor processing averages spanned 403 days for analyst review and 290 days for audit review.
FIND OUT WHY | US H-1B visa rules tighten again: DHS proposes over $103,000 fee for applicants; What Indians should know
An urgent call for legislative overhaul
"These long waiting times for green cards create significant hardships for individuals and their families and undermine the ability of companies to attract and retain talent in America," said NFAP Executive Director Stuart Anderson.
NFAP concludes that administrative streamlining alone cannot resolve the structural breakdown. Because the root cause lies in statutory limits, meaningful relief for Indian professionals will remain out of reach without legislative reforms to expand visa numbers and remove per-country caps.