US exhausts EB-2 green card quota for India in FY2026

The US State Department has announced that all available Employment-based Second Preference (EB-2) immigrant visas for India have been issued for fiscal year 2026. As a result, US embassies and consulates will not issue any more EB-2 Green Cards to Indian applicants until the new fiscal year begins on October 1, 2026, when the annual quota resets.

EB-2 is an employment-based Green Card category meant for professionals with advanced degrees or people with exceptional abilities in fields such as science, business, or arts.

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The move comes after the US government warned of rising demand in the EB-1 and EB-2 categories. In its earlier visa bulletin, the State Department had said: “Further retrogressions, or making the categories ‘unavailable,’ may be necessary in the coming months if India’s pro-rated limits in the EB-1 or EB-2 categories are reached before the fiscal year ends.”

What does exhaustion of quota mean?

Under the US Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), employment-based immigrant visas are capped every fiscal year.

The law states that EB-2 visas can account for 28.6% of the worldwide employment-based Green Card limit. The overall annual employment-based Green Card cap is 140,000 visas. This means around 40,000 visas are available globally under the EB-2 category.

The law also places a 7% per-country cap on employment-based and family-sponsored visas. Because of this restriction, India receives around 2,800 EB-2 Green Cards annually.

The latest visa bulletin showed the EB-2 Final Action Date for India as September 1, 2013. This means applicants whose priority date is on or before that date are currently eligible to receive a Green Card. However, since the quota has been exhausted, no further approvals can happen in this fiscal year.

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What happens to pending applications?

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) may continue accepting adjustment of status applications from eligible applicants. Interviews may also continue.

However, even if interviews are completed, final approval cannot be granted until a visa number becomes available again after October 1, 2026.

The State Department has now marked the EB-2 category for India as “unavailable” for the remainder of the fiscal year.