Employment-Based Green Card Backlog Reaches New Record High

The United States is grappling with a mounting challenge as the number of immigrants awaiting employment-based green cards hits an unprecedented record high of 1.8 million this year.

These immigrants, sponsored by U.S. employers or investors, find themselves ensnared in a lengthy queue due to the combination of limited annual green card quotas and country caps that restrict the allocation of these cards.

How to Get a Green Card?

The first step in the process of getting an employment-based green card is for an employer to file a petition for an immigrant worker. This petition is called an I-140 petition. If there is no green card available for that worker under the annual limits, the petition is put on hold until a spot opens up.

The second step is for the worker to file an application for permanent residence (the green card application). This application is called an I-485 application.

There is also a similar process for investors and special immigrants, who include interpreters from Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as some abandoned immigrant children.

Backlogs, Backlogs, and Backlogs

The employment-based green card backlog is divided into several categories, each with its own annual limit. The most popular categories are the EB-2 category for workers with advanced degrees and the EB-3 category for workers with at least bachelor’s degrees.

The EB-2 category has a backlog of over 600,000 cases, and the EB-3 category has a backlog of over 300,000 cases. The wait times for these categories can be very long, especially for immigrants from India and China.

India and China Face the Longest Waits

The backlog for new applicants from India is effectively a death sentence. It takes an average of 134 years for an Indian applicant to get a green card in the EB-2 or EB-3 categories.

Chinese applicants also face long wait times. It takes an average of 17 years for a Chinese applicant to get a green card in the EB-2 or EB-3 categories.

Northern Triangle Countries Also Face Long Waits

The Northern Triangle countries of El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala also face long wait times for employment-based green cards. The wait time for an applicant from these countries in the EB-4 category is an average of 12 years.

Biden Administration Takes Steps to Address Backlog

The Biden administration has taken some steps to address the employment-based green card backlog. In March 2023, the administration announced that it would change how it applies the country caps for the EB-4 category so that the Northern Triangle countries and Mexico will get more green cards at the expense of other countries.

However, even if these countries get all the green cards going forward, they will still face decades of waiting. The only way to truly address the employment-based green card backlog is to increase the annual limits for these categories.