Indian professionals waiting for a US Green Card under the EB-2 category just hit another wall. The US State Department says the entire EB-2 visa quota for India has already been used for the fiscal year 2026.

That means US embassies and consulates will not issue any more EB-2 immigrant visas to Indian applicants until October 1, 2026, when the new annual quota opens.

What This Means for Indians

If you are an Indian professional applying under the EB-2 category, your case may still move forward on paper. But no final Green Card approval can happen until fresh visa numbers become available.

The EB-2 category covers:

• Professionals with advanced degrees
• Applicants with exceptional ability in science, business, or the arts

For many Indians working in the US on H-1B visas, EB-2 remains one of the main routes to permanent residency.

Why the Quota Ran Out So Early

The US had already warned this was coming.

Earlier visa bulletins flagged rising demand from Indian applicants in both EB-1 and EB-2 categories. Now the State Department has officially marked India’s EB-2 category as “unavailable” for the rest of the fiscal year.

Here’s the math behind it:

• The US employment-based Green Card cap is 140,000 annually
• EB-2 gets 28.6% of that allocation
• Every country is also restricted by a 7% cap

In practice, India receives roughly 2,800 EB-2 Green Cards a year despite massive demand from Indian tech workers, doctors, engineers, and researchers.

That mismatch is no longer temporary. It’s becoming the normal operating model of the US immigration system.

Priority Dates Still Deeply Backlogged

The latest visa bulletin lists India’s EB-2 Final Action Date as September 1, 2013. So even before the quota freeze, only applicants with priority dates on or before that date could receive Green Cards.

For younger Indian professionals entering the US workforce today, the wait can easily stretch into decades unless policy changes.

What Happens to Pending Applications?

Applicants can still:

• File adjustment of status applications if eligible
• Attend USCIS interviews
• Continue document processing

But approvals will stay frozen until new visa numbers are released after October 1, 2026.

This does not affect temporary US visas, like:

• H-1B
• F-1 student visas
• B1/B2 visitor visas

Flights between India and the US also remain unaffected, with direct connections continuing from Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad to major US hubs.

Take:

We think this exposes how badly outdated US Green Card quotas have become for Indians. Applications may continue, but real movement remains painfully slow for skilled professionals.

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