Green card wait times for Indian nationals

 As of 2024, **green card wait times for Indian nationals** under employment-based categories, particularly **EB-2 (Advanced Degree Professionals)** and **EB-3 (Skilled Workers and Professionals)**, remain significantly long due to the large backlog. Indian nationals face some of the most extended waiting periods due to high demand and the **per-country cap** imposed by U.S. immigration laws.

### **EB-2 and EB-3 Backlogs for Indian Nationals in 2024**

1. **EB-2 Category**: For advanced degree professionals, the wait times can be **over a decade**, and in some cases, up to **80 years** due to the sheer number of applicants in the backlog.

   

2. **EB-3 Category**: For skilled workers, professionals, and other workers, the waiting time can also stretch from **10 to 20+ years**, depending on future demand and visa availability【16†source】【17†source】.

### **Factors Contributing to the Long Wait Times**:

- **Per-Country Cap**: U.S. law limits the number of green cards that can be issued to nationals of any single country to 7% of the total green cards issued annually. Given the large number of Indian applicants, this creates a massive bottleneck.

- **High Demand for H-1B Workers**: Many Indian nationals on H-1B visas are applying for green cards, contributing to the backlog.

- **Priority Dates**: For Indian nationals, the **priority dates** (the date when an application is filed) often move slowly, reflecting the immense queue.

### **Visa Bulletin Insights**:

As of 2024, the U.S. Department of State’s **Visa Bulletin** shows that priority dates for Indian nationals in the EB-2 and EB-3 categories are backlogged to around **2011-2012**, meaning applications filed during those years are only now becoming eligible for processing. This means new applicants may face several decades of waiting【17†source】.

### Legislative Proposals:

There have been ongoing legislative efforts, such as the **Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act**, aimed at eliminating per-country caps and easing the backlog for countries like India. However, as of 2024, these reforms have not been fully implemented.

Thus, Indian nationals applying for employment-based green cards continue to face substantial delays, with many relying on temporary visas like the **H-1B** or **L-1** while waiting for their green card approval.