US green card backlog: Indian EB-2 wait could stretch to 179 years
An Indian professional applying for a green card in the United States may face a wait time of up to 179 years due to an overwhelming immigration backlog, according to a National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) analysis. This backlog disproportionately affects Indian nationals, comprising 79% of the total green card stockpile as of December 2025.
The report estimates that a highly skilled Indian worker with a January 2026 filing could experience wait times of 4-5 years for the EB-1 category, 179 years for EB-2, and 38 years for EB-3 visas. Of the 1 million Indians stuck in the green card backlog, nearly 264,521 were approved in FY 2016-2018 but have yet to receive the card.
The NFAP attributes the length of the wait to the 140,000 annual green card cap established in 1990 and the 7% per-country limit. This fixed allocation means that countries with larger applicant numbers, like India, must wait longer. Consequently, there are currently 731,566 Indians in the EB-2 backlog, projecting a wait of around 179 years for someone filing in that category in 2026.
Written by urgent.news from The Indian Express's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
This story
This is one outlet's version. Read the fullest account.
