EB-3 Green Card Blocked: Indians Face Longest Wait as EW Categories Full for 2025

Indian nationals seeking permanent residency through the EB-3 employment-based category are facing some of the longest wait times in history, as both the EB-3 and EW (Other Workers) visa categories became fully subscribed for fiscal year 2025. This means that no new green cards can be issued in these categories for Indian-born applicants until the next fiscal year begins. The root cause lies in the per-country cap system embedded in U.S. immigration law, which limits any single country to no more than 7% of total employment-based green cards issued annually. Since India produces a disproportionately large number of employment-based applicants — particularly in the skilled worker categories — the backlog for Indian nationals stretches decades into the future. For EB-3 applicants from India, this development means that even those who filed their I-485 adjustment of status applications years ago may see no movement on their cases while the annual quota remains exhausted. The EW (unskilled or other workers) subcategory under EB-3 is similarly affected, compounding the hardship for a broader range of applicants. This situation underscores the urgent need for congressional reform of the per-country cap system. Legislation such as the Equal Access to Green Cards for Legal Employment (EAGLE) Act has been proposed in prior sessions to eliminate these country-based limits, but has not yet been enacted into law. EB-3 applicants from countries other than India and China are comparatively less affected and may still see visa number availability in the coming months. All applicants are advised to monitor the monthly Visa Bulletin from the Department of State closely and consult with a qualified immigration attorney to assess their individual timelines.