{
  "id": 4901832,
  "title": "US green card backlog: Indian EB-2 wait could stretch to 179 years",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/01/us-green-card-backlog-indian-eb-2-wait-could-stretch-to-179-years",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-01T17:09:23.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Indian Express",
    "slug": "the-indian-express",
    "url": "https://indianexpress.com/article/world/us-news/us-green-card-backlog-indian-professionals-179-year-wait-eb2-nfap-report-10859258/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "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.\n\nThe 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.\n\nThe 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.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Free Press Journal",
        "title": "Indian Professionals Could Face 179-Year Wait For US Green Card Amid Visa Backlog",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/01/indian-professionals-could-face-179-year-wait-for-us-green-card-amid",
        "published": "2026-09-01T12:40:38.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}