Some Indian applicants for U.S. employment-based green cards face extremely long delays, with projections suggesting certain individuals could wait up to 179 years for permanent residency. The delays stem from a sustained backlog in the U.S. employment-based immigration system, affecting applicants from India.
As of December 2025, multiple outlets report that around one million people from India are waiting in the employment-based backlog, and another report places the job-based backlog at more than 1.2 million overall. The waiting period is shaped by annual quotas and country-specific limits in U.S. immigration categories. Because demand from particular countries exceeds the available numbers, visa availability does not match the timeline of submitted applications.
While both outlets describe the same underlying problem—employment-based green card backlogs and long waits—coverage differs in emphasis. One focuses on the projected 179-year duration and the size of the Indian queue, while the other highlights the broader job-based backlog and attributes delays specifically to stricter quotas and country limits.
