Indian professionals face decade-long US Green Card backlogs

The US State Department’s October Visa Bulletin reveals that Indian professionals continue to face significant employment-based Green Card backlogs, with some categories stretching past a decade. In the EB-2 category, which is used by professionals with advanced degrees, the final-action date for Indian applicants is November 1, 2013, while the date for most other countries is January 1, 2025.

Similarly, the EB-3 category for skilled workers shows a cutoff of January 1, 2014, for India, compared to May 15, 2024, for most other nations. Despite these long waits, the start of the new fiscal year has brought some relief. The EB-1 category, reserved for priority workers and those with extraordinary ability, saw a seven-month advancement for both Indian and Chinese applicants, moving the final-action date to February 1, 2023. Additionally, the EB-2 category for India saw a restoration of availability after annual visa allocations had been exhausted in the previous fiscal year.