{"componentChunkName":"component---src-templates-article-js","path":"/eb-2-backlog-indians-face-179-year-wait","result":{"data":{"prismicArticle":{"uid":"eb-2-backlog-indians-face-179-year-wait","tags":["NRI","featured","three"],"first_publication_date":"2026-10-18T09:27:17+0000","last_publication_date":"2026-10-18T09:27:17+0000","data":{"third_party_url":null,"title":{"text":"EB-2 Backlog: Indians Face 179-Year Wait"},"rating":null,"datetime":"2026-10-18T03:30:00+0000","img":{"url":"https://images.prismic.io/prad/6a5229b9-ba41-4fbf-926a-a933bd8f60b1_SU+Greencard.JPG?auto=format,compress"},"embed":{"embed_url":null,"thumbnail_url":null,"author_url":null,"title":null},"content":{"raw":[{"text":"US Congressman Josh Gottheimer has renewed his call to end per-country caps on employment-based green cards, as the latest US visa bulletin shows Indian professionals with advanced degrees are only now reaching applications filed nearly 13 years ago. "},{"text":"\"Imagine waiting 179 years for a green card. That's the projected wait for Indian green card applicants,\" the New Jersey Democrat said on X."},{"text":"\"I voted to end the per-country caps to expedite the process, because we can enforce our laws and still live up to our immigrant values as Americans,\" he said."},{"text":"The 179-year figure comes from an August analysis by the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP), an Arlington, Virginia-based research group."},{"text":"NFAP projected that an Indian national filing in January 2026 or later faces a potential wait of 179 years in the EB-2 category for advanced-degree holders and 38 years in EB-3. The estimate excludes government processing time."},{"text":"NFAP estimated that Indians make up 79 per cent, or about 996,599, of the 1,264,495 people waiting in the first three employment-based preferences as of December 2025."},{"text":"It used US Citizenship and Immigration Services data on approved principal applicants, adding its own estimate of spouses and children."},{"text":"An earlier analysis by David Bier of the Cato Institute put Indians at about 1.1 million, or 63 per cent, of a 1.8 million-case backlog across all employment-based categories in 2023. Bier estimated a 134-year wait for new Indian applicants in EB-2 and EB-3 combined."},{"text":"The State Department's October 2026 Visa Bulletin, the first of fiscal year 2027, lists a final action date of November 1, 2013 for Indian EB-2 applicants. For most other countries, the EB-2 cut-off is January 1, 2025."},{"text":"The EB-3 date for India is January 1, 2014, against May 15, 2024 for most countries."},{"text":"In the September bulletin, the last of fiscal 2026, EB-2 was listed as 'U' for India, meaning no visa numbers were authorised. The November bulletin has not yet been published. "},{"text":"Under Section 202 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the per-country limit for preference immigrants is 7 per cent of the combined family and employment-based annual limits."},{"text":"For fiscal 2027, that works out to 25,620, the bulletin says, with the worldwide employment-based level set at \"at least 140,000\"."},{"text":"Gottheimer was among the 365 members who voted for the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act in July 2019, according to the House Clerk's roll call. "},{"text":"The bill, which would have scrapped the per-country cap for employment-based green cards, passed 365-65 but did not become law."}]}}},"relatedArticles":{"edges":[{"node":{"uid":"la-mayoral-candidate-raman-faces-audit-row","data":{"third_party_url":null,"title":{"text":"LA mayoral candidate Raman faces audit row"},"img":{"url":"https://images.prismic.io/prad/aifkPweQX7-eXA1s_nithyaraman.JPG?auto=format,compress"},"datetime":"2026-10-18T02:52:00+0000"}}},{"node":{"uid":"three-indians-die-in-germany-fire","data":{"third_party_url":null,"title":{"text":"Three Indians Die in Germany Fire"},"img":{"url":"https://images.prismic.io/prad%2F0d61651e-ba35-4afd-b7b3-32dae3671426_fire.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&rect=0%2C19%2C301%2C148&w=2028&h=1000"},"datetime":"2026-10-15T08:15:00+0000"}}},{"node":{"uid":"vivek-ramaswamy-fights-uphill-in-us-ohio","data":{"third_party_url":null,"title":{"text":"Vivek Ramaswamy fights uphill in US' 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