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Green card dates for people born in India, category by category

Pick your category and enter your priority date: the table below shows every Indian cutoff this month next to the worldwide date.

Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method and past error

Where will you apply?

October 2026 bulletin

Current

Your date is before the Final Action cutoff: a green card can be approved this month.

Final Action DateNovember 1, 2013
Date for FilingJanuary 15, 2015
I-485 this month (USCIS uses Dates for Filing)You can file
I-485 employment, national average (August 2026)11.8 months
Government fees (paper filing, with work permit and travel permit)$3,645
How this was calculated
  1. Fees: I-140 $715 + I-140 $600 + I-485 $1,440 + I-765 $260 + I-131 $630 (USCIS Form G-1055, edition 10/07/26, and State Department visa fees).

Fee details, line by line

Estimate from public data, not legal advice. Your case may differ (cross-chargeability, CSPA, waivers). For advice, see a licensed immigration attorney or a DOJ-accredited representative. Not affiliated with USCIS or the Department of State. Method and past error

India has its own column in the Visa Bulletin because demand from Indian-born applicants exceeds the per-country limit: no single country may receive more than 7% of the family and employment preference numbers in a year, which is 25,620 visas. In the 2026 bulletins India has a separate Final Action Date in 6 categories: EB-2, EB-3, EB-3 Other Workers, F4, EB-1 and EB-5. The longest gap is in EB-2, where the Indian cutoff of November 1, 2013 trails the worldwide date by about 11 years, followed by EB-3 at January 1, 2014. Unlike the Philippines or Mexico, India's backlog is mostly an employment story: in the family lines only F4 has its own date. What counts is the country of birth, not citizenship or residence, and a spouse born elsewhere can sometimes move both partners to that country's queue.

Why India gets its own column

The Immigration and Nationality Act caps each country at 7 % of the yearly preference total, which the bulletin puts at 25,620 visas across 226,000 family and at least 140,000 employment numbers. India reaches that ceiling mainly through employment demand: its employer-sponsored lines are where the gaps are widest. Once a country's demand passes the cap in a category, the bulletin gives it a separate cutoff. INA sections 201 to 203.

Where the Indian lines stand

This month 6 categories carry an Indian date. EB-2 is the furthest behind, at November 1, 2013 against January 1, 2025 worldwide, about 11.2 years. EB-3 follows at January 1, 2014. In October 2016 the Indian EB-2 date was January 15, 2007. Right now EB-3 India holds the later of the two cutoffs, which is why some applicants compare the two queues with the EB-2 to EB-3 guide. In EB-1 and EB-5 the rest of the world is current while India waits. The EB-5 India line moved 579 days forward in the latest bulletin.

The family side

Indian-born relatives use the worldwide dates in F1, F2A, F2B and F3, so an Indian-born adult son or daughter, or the spouse of a green card holder, waits exactly as long as anyone else in those lines. F4 is the exception, with its own Indian cutoff. The F4 India page has its history.

Chargeability: birth, not passport

The column you use is decided by your country of birth. A spouse born in another country can let the couple be charged there when they immigrate together, which for a spouse born in a worldwide country opens a much earlier queue. Our chargeability guide covers the conditions, and a licensed immigration attorney or DOJ-accredited representative can confirm how they apply to a specific case.

Every category for India, October 2026

CategoryFinal ActionDates for FilingRest of the worldChange this month
F1January 22, 2020February 1, 2020January 22, 2020no change
F2ASeptember 22, 2026Current (C)September 22, 2026▲ 31 days
F2BAugust 22, 2019September 1, 2019August 22, 2019no change
F3October 22, 2014November 1, 2014October 22, 2014no change
F4December 15, 2006February 1, 2007October 22, 2011▲ 44 days
EB-1February 1, 2023July 1, 2024Current (C)▲ 109 days
EB-2November 1, 2013January 15, 2015January 1, 2025▲ 61 days
EB-3January 1, 2014January 15, 2015May 15, 2024no change
EB-3 Other WorkersJanuary 1, 2014January 15, 2015January 1, 2022no change
EB-4December 15, 2022January 1, 2025December 15, 2022no change
EB-5December 1, 2023May 1, 2024Current (C)▲ 579 days

Questions people ask

Which Visa Bulletin categories have a separate India date?

In recent bulletins India has had its own Final Action Date in the categories shown in the table on this page, mainly the employment lines EB-1, EB-2, EB-3, EB-3 Other Workers and EB-5, plus F4 for siblings. In every other category Indian applicants use the worldwide date. The list can change from one bulletin to the next as demand shifts.

Does Indian citizenship or Indian birth decide the India queue?

Birth. The Visa Bulletin charges each applicant to the country of birth, so a Canadian or British citizen born in India waits on the Indian line, and an Indian citizen born in the United Arab Emirates does not. A spouse’s country of birth can be used instead when both immigrate together, under cross-chargeability.

Why is EB-1 India behind when EB-1 is current for everyone else?

Because Indian applicants in EB-1 alone would use more than the share their country may receive, the State Department sets a cutoff for India while other countries stay current. Applicants in the first preference from India therefore wait behind a cutoff, even though the category is open worldwide.

Is the India green card backlog getting shorter?

It depends on the category. Some Indian lines have advanced several years over the last decade, others have barely moved, and several have retrogressed along the way. The chart on each category page shows the path since 2001, and our forecast says plainly when it cannot predict an Indian date with tested accuracy.

Keep going

EB-2 India

The longest-running employment backlog: cutoff, filing chart, history since 2001 and our graded forecast.

EB-3 India

Indian skilled workers and professionals: a cutoff that took five years to climb back, and its tug of war with EB-2 India.

F4 India

Brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens born in India: a line split from the world in 2016 and still slow.

Per-country limit

The 7% cap on any one country, how unused numbers fall to the next category, and why four countries get their own column.

Chargeability

Which country your green card is counted against, and when a spouse or parent born elsewhere changes the queue.

Official sources and data

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Data for 2026, checked on