New official figures put a precise size on a queue many South Florida Malayalees (SFM) readers know firsthand. USCIS data as of June 2026 count 391,296 approved EB-2 petitions — advanced-degree professionals — waiting for a green card number to become available. Of those, 356,360, about 91%, belong to people born in India, the Indo-Asian News Service reported on November 1. China accounts for nearly all the rest.
The pattern holds across categories: India-born workers hold about 56% of waiting EB-1 petitions and about 72% of EB-3, so switching categories rarely shortens the line. Two cautions matter: USCIS counts principal beneficiaries only, so the true number of waiting people, including spouses and children, is considerably larger — and the count can include more than one petition for the same person.
Why it matters: the math behind the wait is unchanged — India's EB-2 final action date in the November Visa Bulletin is still November 1, 2013. Check your priority date against the official bulletin, and treat this as general information, not legal advice.
