Indian Professionals Face Up to 179-Year Wait for US Green Cards

Times of India

Indian professionals seeking US employment-based green cards face the longest delays in the immigration system, according to an assessment by the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP). As of December 2025, the employment-based immigration backlog exceeded 1.2 million applicants. Nearly one million Indian professionals and their family members are on the employment-based waiting list, accounting for about 79% of the total. Some Indian applicants could face an estimated 179-year wait for permanent residency.

NFAP said applicants from India could face waits of up to 179 years under the EB-2 category, 38 years under EB-3 and five years under EB-1 for cases filed from January 2026. The report identified two key reasons for the backlog. First, US law limits employment-based green cards to 140,000 a year, including workers and their dependants. Second, each country is subject to the same percentage-based quota, regardless of population size. This means populous countries such as India and China receive the same allocation as much smaller countries. Chinese applicants also face long waits, including an estimated 25 years under EB-2 and seven years under EB-3.