Understanding U.S. Visa Quotas: Why Some Applicants Wait Longer for Approval
This guide breaks down the real mechanics behind the backlog—from how priority dates work to why being born in a high-demand country like India or China can stretch your wait into decades. You’ll understand the visa bulletin system, employment-based and family-based backlogs, and what you can do to manage expectations.
What are U.S. visa quotas and why do they matter?
Each year, the U.S. government limits the number of green cards issued across various categories. These limits are based on a combination of annual numerical caps and per-country ceilings.
Roughly 675,000 permanent resident visas (green cards) are available annually. These are divided into categories like family-sponsored (226,000), employment-based (140,000), and others. On top of that, no single country can receive more than 7% of total green cards in any one category, regardless of how many people apply from that country.
If you’re from a high-demand country—India, China, Mexico, or the Philippines—this quota quickly fills up. Everyone else is placed in a waiting line based on their priority date, which is when your I-130 or I-140 petition was filed.
How do priority dates affect your green card timeline?
Your priority date determines your place in line for a green card. USCIS and the Department of State use it to decide when you can file your final green card application or get your case adjudicated.
Every month, the Department of State releases the Visa Bulletin, which sets “cut-off dates” for each visa category and country. If your priority date is earlier than the cut-off, your green card process can move forward. If not, you wait.
These delays compound each year as backlogs grow. For example, as of August 2025, India-born applicants in EB-2 have cut-off dates going back more than a decade. Your career success or qualifications won’t matter if the category for your birth country is severely retrogressed.
Why do applicants from India and China wait the longest?
The 7% per-country limit disproportionately affects nationals of countries with high volumes of applicants. India and China dominate employment-based visa filings due to their skilled labor force.
Because the cap doesn’t scale with population or demand, applicants from smaller countries often process faster—even with weaker applications. This creates a backlog that can stretch over 15–20 years in the EB-2 and EB-3 categories for Indian nationals.
This isn’t about where you live today. It’s strictly about where you were born. If you were born in India but became a citizen of Canada, your visa line remains based on your Indian birth, unless you qualify for cross-chargeability through your spouse.
What is cross-chargeability and can it help reduce wait time?
Cross-chargeability allows you to use your spouse’s country of birth if it offers a faster processing path. This applies if you're filing a green card as a couple and only one of you is from a backlogged country.
If you're an Indian-born applicant and your spouse was born in a country with little visa demand (say, Canada or the UAE), you can charge your application to the spouse’s country and skip the India-based backlog.
This strategy only works if you're applying together. It cannot be retroactively applied once your case is fully processed. If eligible, it can shave off years—or even decades—from your wait time.
What are the different categories affected by visa quotas?
Only certain visa categories are impacted by quotas. Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens—including spouses, unmarried minor children, and parents—are exempt from annual limits.
Everyone else falls into quota-based categories:
- Family Preference Categories (F1 to F4)
- Employment-Based Categories (EB-1 to EB-5)
- Diversity Visa Lottery (limited to 55,000 annually)
For instance, unmarried sons and daughters of U.S. citizens (F1) and siblings of U.S. citizens (F4) can wait 10 to 20 years, especially from high-demand countries. In employment-based categories, EB-1 is fastest, while EB-3 can be extremely backlogged depending on your country.
What happens when the Visa Bulletin retrogresses?
Retrogression occurs when the Department of State moves the cut-off dates backward due to over-demand. Even if you've already submitted paperwork, your case pauses until your priority date becomes current again.
This typically happens toward the end of the fiscal year (September) or when USCIS and DOS recalibrate expectations. For instance, if too many applicants file during the “Dates for Filing” window, the “Final Action Dates” may move backward to keep annual caps intact.
During retrogression, you're stuck. Your Adjustment of Status application may remain pending for months or even years.
What can you do while waiting in a visa backlog?
You can't skip the line—but you can position yourself strategically. While waiting:
- Keep monitoring the Visa Bulletin monthly
- Update USCIS if you change address or employer (in EB cases)
- Ensure your underlying I-140 or I-130 petition remains valid
- Explore H-1B extensions beyond 6 years under AC21
- Consider cross-chargeability if married to someone born elsewhere
- Maintain legal nonimmigrant status until adjustment
You may also consider alternative pathways like EB-1 (for extraordinary ability or multinational managers) if you qualify. Self-petitioning under EB-2 National Interest Waiver (NIW) could give you faster movement depending on the category.
Why do some U.S. green card applicants wait longer?
- Born in high-demand countries (India, China, Mexico)
- Filing under quota-based categories like EB-2 or F4
- Priority date is far behind Visa Bulletin cut-off
- Subject to retrogression and processing pauses
In Conclusion
If you're waiting on a U.S. green card, your delay is likely driven by a combination of quota caps and birthplace. Applicants from countries like India and China face deeply backlogged employment and family-based categories because of per-country ceilings that don’t reflect demand. By understanding how priority dates, retrogression, and cross-chargeability work, you can better manage expectations, monitor progress, and explore every available strategic path while your case is pending.
Explore more perspectives from immigration attorney Jinhee Wilde: https://jinheewilde.mystrikingly.com/
Comments
Post a Comment