Visa & Green Card
Green Card Wait Time Tracker & Estimator
See the current visa bulletin cutoff for your EB category, how far your priority date is behind, and an honest estimated wait range based on historical movement.
Estimate your wait
EB-2 India — Final Action Date (2026-06)
Sep 1, 2013
Your date is 5.8 years behind the cutoff
cutoff movement, 3 yrs
≈ 5.8 years – 12 years
Estimated remaining wait, projecting the cutoff's average movement over the last ~30 bulletins ahead. Retrogression can reverse progress at any time.
✗ Dates for Filing: your priority date is not yet eligible to file an I-485.
Estimate only — not legal advice. Projections assume past bulletin movement continues; retrogression, demand spikes, and policy changes can change everything. Never plan around a single date.
Last updated: · Source: U.S. Department of State Visa Bulletin (June 2026)
Visa bulletin · 2026-06
Current cutoff dates at a glance
Final Action Dates (approval cutoff) for each employment-based category. 'Current' means no backlog.
| Category | India | China (mainland) | All other countries |
|---|---|---|---|
| EB-1 | Dec 15, 2022 | Apr 1, 2023 | Current |
| EB-2 | Sep 1, 2013 | Sep 1, 2021 | Current |
| EB-3 | Dec 15, 2013 | Aug 1, 2021 | Current |
| EB-5 | Nov 15, 2019 | Dec 1, 2016 | Current |
Last updated: · Source: U.S. Department of State Visa Bulletin (June 2026)
History
How the cutoffs have moved
Three years of Final Action Date and Dates for Filing movement, from monthly visa bulletin snapshots.
Higher on the chart = a later (more recent) cutoff date = shorter backlog. Flat stretches are months where the bulletin didn't move; drops are retrogressions.
How it works
Why the wait exists
FAD vs Dates for Filing
The Final Action Date controls when your green card can be approved. The earlier Dates for Filing cutoff — in months USCIS accepts it — lets you file your I-485 early and get EAD/Advance Parole benefits while you wait.
The 7% per-country cap
No country of birth can use more than 7% of each year's employment-based green cards — about 9,800. Indian demand is many multiples of that, so the queue compounds year after year. Country of birth, not citizenship, is what counts.
The ~140k annual pool
All employment-based categories worldwide share roughly 140,000 green cards a year (plus any unused family-based spillover). Dependents count against the cap too, so each approved family typically uses 2–3 numbers from the pool.
Frequently asked questions
What is the EB-2 India green card wait time in 2026?
The June 2026 Final Action Date for EB-2 India is Sep 1, 2013, meaning only applications filed before that date can be approved. At the cutoff's recent pace of movement, a new EB-2 India applicant realistically faces a wait measured in decades, not years — which is why many applicants also file EB-1 or EB-3 where eligible.
What is the difference between Final Action Dates and Dates for Filing?
The Final Action Date (FAD) is the cutoff that controls when a green card can actually be approved. Dates for Filing (DFF) is an earlier cutoff that, in months when USCIS accepts it, lets you submit your I-485 sooner — unlocking EAD work and travel benefits while you wait for the FAD to reach your priority date.
Why is the India backlog so much longer than other countries?
US law caps employment-based green cards at roughly 140,000 per year across all categories, and no single country of birth may use more than 7% (about 9,800) of them. Because demand from India far exceeds that 7% share every year, the unused demand piles up into a multi-decade backlog for EB-2 and EB-3 India.
Can my priority date move backwards (retrogression)?
Yes. When demand exceeds the visas available, the State Department can move a cutoff backwards — called retrogression — or mark a category 'Unavailable'. Cases already filed stay in line, but approvals pause until the cutoff advances past the priority date again. This is why any wait estimate is a projection, not a promise.
How accurate is this green card wait estimator?
It projects the average movement of your category's cutoff over roughly the last 30 visa bulletins forward, and shows an optimistic-to-pessimistic range rather than a single date. Real waits depend on future demand, retrogression, country-cap spillover, and possible law changes — treat the output as a planning range, not legal advice.