India EB-2 Visa Limit Exhausted for FY2026: What Green Card Applicants Must Know

The India EB-2 employment-based visa allocation for fiscal year 2026 has been fully exhausted, according to Murthy Law Firm. This milestone reflects the continuing high demand from Indian-born professionals seeking permanent residence through employment-based immigration pathways. When the EB-2 annual limit is exhausted, priority dates for India-born applicants typically retrogress or become unavailable in subsequent visa bulletins. This directly impacts those waiting in the India EB-2 queue and may also affect EB-3 India applicants, as visa number demand shifts between preference categories under the per-country chargeability rules. For EB-3 applicants of Indian origin, this development underscores the importance of monitoring the monthly Visa Bulletin closely. When EB-2 dates retrogress, some applicants previously eligible to downgrade to EB-3 for faster processing may face altered timelines. Applicants currently in the adjustment of status process or preparing to file Form I-485 should consult with their immigration attorney to assess how this exhaustion affects their priority date and eligibility window. Those considering consular processing abroad should also evaluate whether scheduling a visa interview abroad remains viable given current visa availability. The exhaustion of India EB-2 numbers for FY2026 is a routine but significant annual event that reshapes the backlog landscape for tens of thousands of Indian nationals awaiting green cards in the employment-based pipeline.