According to data from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) analyzed by the National Foundation for American Policy and published in Forbes, there are now over 1.2 million people stuck in the backlog within the employment-based visa system. This means longer wait times for employment-based green cards, especially for applicants from China, India, and the Philippines.
Why So Many Are Waiting
Forbes contributor Stuart Anderson summed up the basic cause pretty simply: there aren’t enough green cards available each year to meet the demand from technically skilled workers. Basically, many more people apply for employment based green cards each year than there are green cards available to be issued. As demand has far outpaced supply in recent years, the backlog grew. Today, that translates to lots of people waiting.
Affected Individuals
China, India, and the Philippines are all affected by these delays, although not always to the same extent. Based on the August 2026 visa bulletin, a Chinese national who files an EB-1 petition in 2026 can expect to wait about five years to get their green card.
That’s the same wait time Indian citizens who file for EB-1 can expect to receive. However, farther down the preference categories, there’s a big disparity. If an Indian national applies under EB-2 or EB-3 this year, they could wait up to several decades. For Chinese nationals, the wait is much shorter in those categories.
Things look a lot better for Filipino immigrants. Currently, Filipino nationals can file for either EB-1 or EB-2 without any expected wait from backlog. For those looking to file under EB-3, the category most Filipino nurses and skilled workers typically use, there is a wait of about six years for a petition filed in 2026.
Indian nationals make up the vast majority of those in backlog. As of December 2025, they make up an estimated 79% of the over 1.2 million waiting. With such wide variances in wait times even among people from the same country based on their employment category, careful planning is more necessary than ever for prospective applicants.
As always, ILBSG actively monitors ongoing U.S. immigration news. If you have questions about any U.S. immigration related issue, contact us. Working with an experienced attorney ensures you get the right advice based on the most recent laws. In an ever-evolving immigration policy landscape, it’s particularly critical you get the right advice.