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Green card backlog Green card backlog (employment-based) How many employment-based green card applications (Form I-485) are waiting at USCIS, by category, country of chargeability and priority date — from USCIS's monthly pending inventory.
209,015 employment-based I-485 applications were pending at USCIS in October 2026; 63,127 (30%) are chargeable to India.
Category Rest of world China India Mexico Philippines Total EB-1 32,248 6,307 19,165 2,169 525 60,414 EB-2 48,430 4,364 27,508 2,229 849 83,380 EB-3 28,036 3,111 15,485 3,387 1,485 51,504 EB-3 Other Workers 5,706 45 30 730 166 6,677 EB-4 2,664 148 601 200 140 3,753 EB-5 Unreserved 760 2,038 338 151 0 3,287
Counts include applications that are "available" (priority date current) and "awaiting availability". Counts below 10 are withheld by USCIS and counted as 5.
Pending employment-based I-485s over time Pending employment-based I-485 applications by country of chargeability 0 50K 100K 150K 200K Mar 2024 Aug 2024 Jan 2025 Aug 2025 Jan 2026 Jun 2026 Oct 2026 Rest of world · Mar 2024: 82,149 Rest of world · Apr 2024: 83,465 Rest of world · May 2024: 73,287 Rest of world · Jun 2024: 75,949 Rest of world · Jul 2024: 72,752 Rest of world · Aug 2024: 69,276 Rest of world · Sep 2024: 70,485 Rest of world · Oct 2024: 74,695 Rest of world · Nov 2024: 78,449 Rest of world · Dec 2024: 79,630 Rest of world · Jan 2025: 81,768 Rest of world · Feb 2025: 81,164 Rest of world · Mar 2025: 79,054 Rest of world · Apr 2025: 78,531 Rest of world · May 2025: 78,095 Rest of world · Aug 2025: 77,475 Rest of world · Sep 2025: 74,722 Rest of world · Oct 2025: 75,051 Rest of world · Nov 2025: 84,607 Rest of world · Dec 2025: 93,978 Rest of world · Jan 2026: 98,662 Rest of world · Feb 2026: 100,215 Rest of world · Mar 2026: 102,507 Rest of world · Apr 2026: 105,695 Rest of world · May 2026: 130,857 Rest of world · Jun 2026: 162,127 Rest of world · Jul 2026: 151,440 Rest of world · Aug 2026: 152,824 Rest of world · Sep 2026: 155,758 Rest of world · Oct 2026: 117,844 China · Mar 2024: 22,812 China · Apr 2024: 22,787 China · May 2024: 18,896 China · Jun 2024: 18,649 China · Jul 2024: 18,562 China · Aug 2024: 16,394 China · Sep 2024: 15,404 China · Oct 2024: 15,500 China · Nov 2024: 15,941 China · Dec 2024: 16,229 China · Jan 2025: 16,520 China · Feb 2025: 16,402 China · Mar 2025: 16,124 China · Apr 2025: 15,623 China · May 2025: 14,850 China · Aug 2025: 13,642 China · Sep 2025: 13,093 China · Oct 2025: 13,104 China · Nov 2025: 16,374 China · Dec 2025: 19,213 China · Jan 2026: 19,556 China · Feb 2026: 19,697 China · Mar 2026: 19,653 China · Apr 2026: 19,175 China · May 2026: 19,714 China · Jun 2026: 20,169 China · Jul 2026: 18,878 China · Aug 2026: 17,763 China · Sep 2026: 16,747 China · Oct 2026: 16,013 India · Mar 2024: 74,656 India · Apr 2024: 74,209 India · May 2024: 71,462 India · Jun 2024: 71,687 India · Jul 2024: 71,817 India · Aug 2024: 69,542 India · Sep 2024: 68,280 India · Oct 2024: 68,421 India · Nov 2024: 68,127 India · Dec 2024: 68,419 India · Jan 2025: 68,624 India · Feb 2025: 68,340 India · Mar 2025: 68,020 India · Apr 2025: 67,015 India · May 2025: 65,327 India · Aug 2025: 62,515 India · Sep 2025: 61,106 India · Oct 2025: 60,752 India · Nov 2025: 64,259 India · Dec 2025: 68,302 India · Jan 2026: 68,428 India · Feb 2026: 67,938 India · Mar 2026: 66,822 India · Apr 2026: 64,184 India · May 2026: 68,452 India · Jun 2026: 72,819 India · Jul 2026: 66,008 India · Aug 2026: 64,779 India · Sep 2026: 64,028 India · Oct 2026: 63,127 Mexico · Mar 2024: 8,439 Mexico · Apr 2024: 8,409 Mexico · May 2024: 6,921 Mexico · Jun 2024: 7,476 Mexico · Jul 2024: 7,153 Mexico · Aug 2024: 6,626 Mexico · Sep 2024: 6,253 Mexico · Oct 2024: 6,449 Mexico · Nov 2024: 6,950 Mexico · Dec 2024: 6,801 Mexico · Jan 2025: 6,945 Mexico · Feb 2025: 6,901 Mexico · Mar 2025: 6,856 Mexico · Apr 2025: 6,823 Mexico · May 2025: 6,610 Mexico · Aug 2025: 6,391 Mexico · Sep 2025: 6,264 Mexico · Oct 2025: 6,355 Mexico · Nov 2025: 6,898 Mexico · Dec 2025: 7,699 Mexico · Jan 2026: 7,699 Mexico · Feb 2026: 8,066 Mexico · Mar 2026: 8,109 Mexico · Apr 2026: 8,017 Mexico · May 2026: 9,619 Mexico · Jun 2026: 11,725 Mexico · Jul 2026: 10,868 Mexico · Aug 2026: 11,152 Mexico · Sep 2026: 11,342 Mexico · Oct 2026: 8,866 Philippines · Mar 2024: 2,750 Philippines · Apr 2024: 2,709 Philippines · May 2024: 2,317 Philippines · Jun 2024: 2,428 Philippines · Jul 2024: 2,406 Philippines · Aug 2024: 2,347 Philippines · Sep 2024: 2,247 Philippines · Oct 2024: 2,228 Philippines · Nov 2024: 2,358 Philippines · Dec 2024: 2,296 Philippines · Jan 2025: 2,276 Philippines · Feb 2025: 2,248 Philippines · Mar 2025: 2,221 Philippines · Apr 2025: 2,124 Philippines · May 2025: 2,067 Philippines · Aug 2025: 1,927 Philippines · Sep 2025: 1,812 Philippines · Oct 2025: 1,777 Philippines · Nov 2025: 1,984 Philippines · Dec 2025: 2,319 Philippines · Jan 2026: 2,369 Philippines · Feb 2026: 2,390 Philippines · Mar 2026: 2,533 Philippines · Apr 2026: 2,714 Philippines · May 2026: 3,093 Philippines · Jun 2026: 3,444 Philippines · Jul 2026: 3,181 Philippines · Aug 2026: 3,194 Philippines · Sep 2026: 3,151 Philippines · Oct 2026: 3,165 117.8K Rest of world 63.1K India 16K China 8.9K Mexico 3.2K Philippines USCIS monthly inventory, March 2024 – October 2026. Some months were not published. Current cutoffs for these categories Category Rest of world China India Mexico Philippines EB-1 Current Aug 1, 2023 Feb 1, 2023 Current Current EB-2 Apr 1, 2025 Oct 1, 2021 Nov 1, 2013 Apr 1, 2025 Apr 1, 2025 EB-3 Jun 15, 2024 Jan 22, 2022 Jan 22, 2014 Jun 15, 2024 Aug 15, 2023 EB-3 Other Workers Jun 1, 2022 Oct 1, 2019 Jan 22, 2014 Jun 1, 2022 Jan 1, 2022 EB-4 Dec 15, 2022 Dec 15, 2022 Dec 15, 2022 Dec 15, 2022 Dec 15, 2022 EB-5 Unreserved Current Dec 1, 2016 Dec 1, 2023 Current Current
Final action dates from the November 2026 Visa Bulletin .
Frequently asked questions How big is the employment-based green card backlog? USCIS reported 209,015 pending employment-based I-485 applications in its October 2026 inventory (190,806 in March 2024). 63,127 of them are chargeable to India. Applicants waiting abroad for consular processing and approved I-140s without an I-485 are not included, so the real line is longer.
Why is the backlog longest for India and China? Each country can receive at most 7% of the employment-based green cards per year. Because demand from India and China is far higher, their applicants wait in separate lines with earlier cutoff dates in the Visa Bulletin .
How many people are ahead of me? Use the priority date calculator : it adds up the pending I-485s in your category and country with an earlier priority date.
Sources. Figures are copied from the official files without changes; derived numbers (changes, backlog estimates) are explained on the methodology page . Not legal advice.