Green Card Backlog: How Long the Wait Is by Category and Country

The green card backlog is the line of people who already have an approved or pending family or employment petition but must wait for an immigrant visa number because demand is higher than the yearly limits set by law. You can see its size in the Visa Bulletin: the further a cutoff date is behind the current month, the longer people in that category and country have been waiting.

In October 2026 the longest lines are family categories for Mexico and the Philippines and employment categories for India. The F4 Mexico cutoff (brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens) is 25.4 years behind the calendar, F3 Mexico 25.3 years and F3 Philippines 20.2 years; EB-2 India is 12.9 years behind and EB-3 India 12.7 years. At the other end, EB-5 set-aside categories are current for every country and EB-1 is current for most of the world.

This guide shows how far behind every category is today, how fast each line has moved over the last ten years, why the backlog exists and what applicants can do about it. All figures come from our archive of 275 monthly Visa Bulletins from October 2003 to October 2026.

How far behind each green card line is (October 2026)

Each cell shows the gap between October 2026 and the Final Action cutoff date. A gap of 10 years means only people whose priority date is more than 10 years old can be approved this month.

Category	All other countries	China	India	Mexico	Philippines
EB-1	Current	3.3 years	3.7 years	Current	Current
EB-2	1.7 years	5.0 years	12.9 years	1.7 years	1.7 years
EB-3	2.4 years	4.7 years	12.7 years	2.4 years	3.1 years
EB-3 Other Workers	4.7 years	7.0 years	12.7 years	4.7 years	4.7 years
EB-4	3.8 years	3.8 years	3.8 years	3.8 years	3.8 years
EB-5 Unreserved	Current	9.8 years	2.8 years	Current	Current
F1	6.7 years	6.7 years	6.7 years	18.1 years	12.9 years
F2A	under 1 month	under 1 month	under 1 month	6 months	under 1 month
F2B	7.1 years	7.1 years	7.1 years	16.4 years	13.0 years
F3	11.9 years	11.9 years	11.9 years	25.3 years	20.2 years
F4	14.9 years	14.9 years	19.8 years	25.4 years	18.4 years

The gap is a simple measure of how long the people at the front of the line have waited. Your own wait can be shorter or longer: it depends on your priority date and on how fast the cutoff moves while you are in line, which is why the next tables look at the pace of each row over time.

"Current" means there is no line this month; "Unavailable" means no numbers can be issued. The cutoff dates behind this table are in our Visa Bulletin tracker, and the month's changes are explained in Visa Bulletin October 2026.

Why the green card backlog exists

Annual limits

Immigration law sets a yearly number of preference visas. The family-sponsored preference limit is 226,000 a year and the employment-based limit is at least 140,000 a year. Spouses and children who immigrate with the main applicant count against the same numbers, so a single approved petition can use several visas.

Category	Who it covers	Annual share
F1	Unmarried sons and daughters (21+) of U.S. citizens	23,400 plus unused F4 numbers
F2A / F2B	Spouses and children of permanent residents / unmarried sons and daughters 21+	114,200 plus unused F1 numbers; 77% for F2A
F3	Married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens	23,400 plus unused F1 and F2 numbers
F4	Brothers and sisters of adult U.S. citizens	65,000 plus unused numbers from F1 to F3
EB-1	Priority workers	28.6% of the employment limit
EB-2	Advanced degrees and exceptional ability	28.6% plus unused EB-1 numbers
EB-3	Skilled workers, professionals, other workers	28.6% plus unused EB-1 and EB-2 numbers
EB-4	Certain special immigrants	7.1%
EB-5	Immigrant investors	7.1%

The 7% per-country limit

No single country may receive more than 7% of the combined family and employment preference visas in a year. Countries whose nationals file far more than that share, today China, India, Mexico and the Philippines, get their own column in the bulletin and a later cutoff. That is why a software engineer born in India and one born in Brazil with the same EB-2 priority date can wait a decade apart: in October 2026 EB-2 is Jan 1, 2025 for most countries and Nov 1, 2013 for India.

Immediate relatives are outside the line

Spouses, parents and unmarried children under 21 of U.S. citizens are not subject to these limits, so there is no backlog for them; their wait is only processing time (see I-130 processing time).

The longest green card waits in October 2026

The twelve rows furthest behind the calendar, with how far each moved over ten years. "Pace" is the average number of months of priority dates the line cleared per year between October 2016 and October 2026. A pace below 12 months means the line grew longer during that decade.

Category	Country	Cutoff October 2016	Cutoff October 2026	Pace (per year)
F4	Mexico	May 1, 1997	Apr 22, 2001	4.8 months
F3	Mexico	Nov 22, 1994	Jul 1, 2001	7.9 months
F3	Philippines	Jul 8, 1994	Jul 22, 2006	14.4 months
F4	India	Dec 1, 2002	Dec 15, 2006	4.8 months
F4	Philippines	Apr 15, 1993	May 15, 2008	18.1 months
F1	Mexico	Apr 1, 1995	Sep 8, 2008	16.1 months
F2B	Mexico	Oct 1, 1995	May 15, 2010	17.5 months
F4	All other countries	Nov 1, 2003	Oct 22, 2011	9.6 months
F4	China	May 1, 2003	Oct 22, 2011	10.2 months
F2B	Philippines	Jan 1, 2006	Oct 1, 2013	9.3 months
EB-2	India	Jan 15, 2007	Nov 1, 2013	8.2 months
F1	Philippines	Aug 1, 2005	Nov 1, 2013	9.9 months

Pace is a historical average from the bulletins, not a forecast. Lines speed up and slow down with demand, unused numbers and policy changes. For category-by-category estimates built from each row's past movement, see Visa Bulletin predictions.

How the worst lines have moved over 20 years

Final Action cutoff in the October bulletin of each year:

Category	Oct 2006	Oct 2011	Oct 2016	Oct 2021	Oct 2026
F4, Mexico	Sep 15, 1993	Apr 8, 1996	May 1, 1997	Feb 8, 1999	Apr 22, 2001
F4, Philippines	Apr 1, 1984	Aug 1, 1988	Apr 15, 1993	Aug 22, 2002	May 15, 2008
F3, Mexico	Jan 1, 1994	Dec 1, 1992	Nov 22, 1994	May 15, 1997	Jul 1, 2001
EB-2, India	Jun 15, 2002	Jul 15, 2007	Jan 15, 2007	Sep 1, 2011	Nov 1, 2013
EB-3, India	Apr 22, 2001	Jul 15, 2002	Mar 1, 2005	Jan 1, 2014	Jan 1, 2014
F4, all other countries	Sep 15, 1995	May 15, 2000	Nov 1, 2003	Mar 22, 2007	Oct 22, 2011
F3, all other countries	Oct 22, 1998	Sep 8, 2001	Dec 22, 2004	Nov 22, 2008	Oct 22, 2014
EB-2, China	Apr 1, 2005	Jul 15, 2007	Feb 15, 2012	Jul 1, 2018	Oct 1, 2021

The family F4 and F3 lines for Mexico and the Philippines move slowly because demand from those countries is many times larger than their 7% share. EB-2 and EB-3 India move in jumps and setbacks: EB-2 India reached Dec 1, 2014 in September 2022, fell back to Apr 1, 2012 the next month and to Jan 1, 2011 by September 2023, and it was Unavailable in September 2012 and again in September 2026. The full monthly history is on the EB-2 India and EB-2 China pages.

The backlog country by country

India

India is the most backlogged country for employment green cards. In October 2026 the Final Action dates are Feb 1, 2023 for EB-1, Nov 1, 2013 for EB-2 and Jan 1, 2014 for EB-3, so EB-2 and EB-3 applicants are waiting on priority dates more than twelve years old. Ten years ago, in October 2016, EB-2 India stood at Jan 15, 2007: the cutoff moved less than seven years in a decade. Family categories for India follow the worldwide dates except F4, which is Dec 15, 2006.

China

China's lines are shorter than India's but still years long: EB-1 Jul 1, 2023, EB-2 Oct 1, 2021, EB-3 Jan 8, 2022, and EB-5 Unreserved Dec 1, 2016, which reflects heavy investor demand. Family categories for China use the worldwide dates.

Mexico

Mexico's backlog is in family categories. In October 2026 F1 is Sep 8, 2008, F2B May 15, 2010, F3 Jul 1, 2001 and F4 Apr 22, 2001. Employment categories for Mexico follow the worldwide dates.

Philippines

The Philippines also has long family lines: F1 Nov 1, 2013, F2B Oct 1, 2013, F3 Jul 22, 2006 and F4 May 15, 2008. EB-3 for the Philippines is Aug 15, 2023, a little behind the worldwide EB-3 date.

All other countries

Applicants born anywhere else share the worldwide column. Their EB-1 and EB-5 set-aside categories are current, EB-2 and EB-3 run about two years behind after the October 2026 retrogression, and family F3 and F4 waits are 11.9 years and 14.9 years.

Retrogression: when the line moves backward

When more applicants are ready than the remaining numbers allow, the State Department moves a cutoff back. Counting every month in which a Final Action cutoff moved backward (or went from Current to a date) in the categories and countries above, the bulletins show:

Fiscal year	Backward moves
FY 2016	16
FY 2017	15
FY 2018	29
FY 2019	24
FY 2020	9
FY 2021	0
FY 2022	8
FY 2023	60
FY 2024	8
FY 2025	12
FY 2026	3

FY 2027 started with retrogression in October 2026: EB-2 for all other countries went from Current to Jan 1, 2025 and EB-3 from Sep 1, 2024 to May 15, 2024. The bulletin said this was needed "to keep visa issuances within FY 2027 quarterly and annual limits."

Family vs employment backlog

Family-sponsored

• F2A (spouses and children of green card holders) is the shortest family line: Sep 22, 2026 for most countries in October 2026.
• F1 and F2B run about 6.7 years and 7.1 years behind for most countries.
• F3 and F4 are the longest: 11.9 years and 14.9 years for most countries, and far longer for Mexico and the Philippines.

Employment-based

• EB-1 is current for most countries; India is 3.7 years behind and China 3.3 years.
• EB-2 and EB-3 for most countries run one to two and a half years behind after the October 2026 retrogression; India waits more than a decade.
• EB-4 is 3.8 years behind for every country.
• EB-5 set-asides are current; EB-5 Unreserved is backlogged for China (9.8 years) and India (2.8 years).

What you can do while you wait

• Keep your earliest priority date. An approved I-140 priority date can usually be used on a later employment petition (8 CFR 204.5(e)), so changing jobs or upgrading from EB-3 to EB-2 does not have to restart the clock. See what a priority date is.
• Check whether a faster category fits. EB-1 or an EB-2 national interest waiver does not need PERM and, outside India and China, EB-1 is current. Our guides explain EB-1 requirements and the EB-2 NIW.
• Watch the Dates for Filing chart. In months when USCIS accepts it, you may file Form I-485 years before approval and get work and travel permits while the case is pending.
• Look at cross-chargeability. In some cases you can be charged to your spouse's country of birth if it has a shorter line.
• Keep status valid. For H-1B workers, extensions beyond six years and H-4 spouse work permits depend on the green card process; see H-4 EAD processing time.
• Plan for family conversions. If a green card holder petitioner becomes a citizen, F2A spouses and minor children become immediate relatives with no wait.

How long will my green card take?

Add three parts: the time until your petition is approved, the time until your priority date is current (the backlog shown above) and the final processing of Form I-485 or the consular interview. Our guide on how long it takes to get a green card walks through each part with current processing times.