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Approved, and waiting for a visa number

USCIS's count of approved I-140, I-360 and I-526 petitions whose beneficiary can't file for a green card yet, by category and country of birth, as of June 2026. This page also shows how the count moved since USCIS's last one.

USCIS's count, by country

856,662
approved petitions waiting for a visa number, every category 2% fewer than March 2026
newest Jun 2026
491,773
of them for beneficiaries born in India Level with March 2026
newest Jun 2026
356,360
India-born in EB-2 alone, 91% of the category Level with March 2026
newest Jun 2026
71,779
for beneficiaries born in China Level with March 2026
newest Jun 2026
Who's waiting, by category Approved petitions awaiting a visa number, as of June 2026

EB-1

31,962

  • India 17,861 (56%)
  • China 14,101 (44%)

EB-2

391,296

  • India 356,360 (91%)
  • China 34,936 (9%)

EB-3 professional and skilled

147,492

  • India 106,214 (72%)
  • China 11,070 (8%)
  • Mexico 757 (1%)
  • Philippines 19,147 (13%)
  • Rest of the World 10,304 (7%)

EB-3 other workers

57,743

  • India 228 (0%)
  • China 916 (2%)
  • Mexico 7,283 (13%)
  • Philippines 5,627 (10%)
  • Rest of the World 43,689 (76%)

EB-4 special immigrants

216,678

  • India 10,870 (5%)
  • China 1,093 (1%)
  • Mexico 15,959 (7%)
  • Philippines 189 (0%)
  • Rest of the World 188,567 (87%)

EB-4 religious workers

1,938

  • India 236 (12%)
  • China 114 (6%)
  • Mexico 131 (7%)
  • Philippines 63 (3%)
  • Rest of the World 1,394 (72%)

EB-5 unreserved

9,553

  • India 4 (0%)
  • China 9,549 (100%)

EB-5 set-aside

0

Nobody waiting: the category is current for every country.

Each bar is one preference category, split by the beneficiary's country of birth. More
Each bar is one preference category, split by the beneficiary's country of birth. Every country is capped at about seven percent of the year's visas, so a category where one country holds most of the bar is a category where that country waits.
USCIS, eb_i140_i360_i526_performancedata_fy2026_q3_v1.xlsx, primary beneficiaries only, dependents excluded.
What moved since the last count March 2026 to June 2026

  1. Rest of the World, EB-4 special immigrants

    −13,528

    202,095 to 188,567

  2. Rest of the World, EB-3 professional and skilled

    −11,254

    21,558 to 10,304

  3. Rest of the World, EB-2

    −6,734

    6,734 to 0

  4. India, EB-2

    +5,218

    351,142 to 356,360

  5. Philippines, EB-3 professional and skilled

    +2,059

    17,088 to 19,147

  6. India, EB-1

    +1,994

    15,867 to 17,861

  7. China, EB-5 unreserved

    −1,565

    11,114 to 9,549

  8. China, EB-2

    +1,435

    33,501 to 34,936

  9. India, EB-4 special immigrants

    +1,109

    9,761 to 10,870

  10. Rest of the World, EB-3 other workers

    +989

    42,700 to 43,689

The whole count went from 878,542 to 856,662, a change of -21,880. More
The whole count went from 878,542 to 856,662, a change of -21,880. A cell falls when the visa bulletin advances past those beneficiaries and they file, or when petitions are withdrawn or revoked. It rises as new approvals join the wait. Dark bars rose, accent bars fell.
USCIS, two consecutive quarterly counts.

The whole table

USCIS's nine columns and six rows, as printed. The TOTAL row is USCIS's, and this site refuses the file if the countries don't sum to it.

Country of birth EB-1 EB-2 EB-3 professional and skilled EB-3 other workers EB-4 special immigrants EB-4 religious workers EB-5 unreserved EB-5 set-aside All categories
India 17,861 356,360 106,214 228 10,870 236 4 0 491,773
China 14,101 34,936 11,070 916 1,093 114 9,549 0 71,779
Mexico 0 0 757 7,283 15,959 131 0 0 24,130
Philippines 0 0 19,147 5,627 189 63 0 0 25,026
Rest of the World 0 0 10,304 43,689 188,567 1,394 0 0 243,954
All countries 31,962 391,296 147,492 57,743 216,678 1,938 9,553 0 856,662
What USCIS says about this count

Priority dates are judged against the final action dates chart of the visa bulletin for the month named. A petitioner can file more than one petition, so one person can appear twice. People who've since become permanent residents or citizens are excluded. Dependents aren't counted here, but the annual visa limit counts them, so these petitions will use more visas than the count shows.

I-140 petitions by the year filed India against all countries, FY2014 to FY2026, as of FY2026 Q3

  1. FY2014

    38,082 (44%)

    35,164 approved, 2,801 denied, 117 pending · 7.4% of decided denied

  2. FY2015

    47,709 (46%)

    43,889 approved, 3,738 denied, 82 pending · 7.8% of decided denied

  3. FY2016

    70,015 (47%)

    65,074 approved, 4,813 denied, 128 pending · 6.9% of decided denied

  4. FY2017

    62,342 (45%)

    57,916 approved, 4,307 denied, 119 pending · 6.9% of decided denied

  5. FY2018

    58,608 (43%)

    54,560 approved, 3,961 denied, 87 pending · 6.8% of decided denied

  6. FY2019

    64,914 (44%)

    61,241 approved, 3,597 denied, 76 pending · 5.5% of decided denied

  7. FY2020

    52,918 (41%)

    50,063 approved, 2,793 denied, 62 pending · 5.3% of decided denied

  8. FY2021

    96,513 (54%)

    92,586 approved, 3,802 denied, 125 pending · 3.9% of decided denied

  9. FY2022

    72,565 (44%)

    69,579 approved, 2,897 denied, 89 pending · 4.0% of decided denied

  10. FY2023

    64,804 (34%)

    62,570 approved, 1,977 denied, 257 pending · 3.1% of decided denied

  11. FY2024

    65,739 (29%)

    59,159 approved, 4,037 denied, 2,543 pending · 6.4% of decided denied

  12. FY2025

    68,569 (28%)

    54,874 approved, 6,444 denied, 7,251 pending · 10.5% of decided denied

  13. FY2026

    50,809 (29%)

    35,919 approved, 2,880 denied, 12,010 pending · 7.4% of decided denied

Approvals by class, FY2025, petitions received that year

Class All India China Philippines Brazil Vietnam
Extraordinary ability (E11) 10,797 3,009 2,109 9 406 25
Outstanding professor or researcher (E12) 5,177 1,552 1,845 8 111 14
Multinational executive or manager (E13) 11,381 4,094 1,112 71 693 43
Advanced degree or exceptional ability (E21) 48,635 33,933 6,118 259 400 119
National interest waiver (NIW) 13,429 2,286 3,639 37 275 169
Skilled worker (E31) 12,877 2,050 392 2,719 635 141
Professional (E32) 21,319 7,921 2,629 2,087 387 210
Other worker (EW3) 22,587 29 221 2,252 1,367 7,014
How many I-140s USCIS received each fiscal year and where they stand now. More
How many I-140s USCIS received each fiscal year and where they stand now. The bar is India's receipts, and the figure beside each bar is India's share of every country's. A recent year is mostly pending because it hasn't been decided yet. Approvals didn't fall.
USCIS, i140_rec_by_class_country_fy2026_q3_v1.xlsx, by fiscal year received. The newest year is partial.

FAQs

What does 'awaiting visa availability' mean?
The petition is approved, so USCIS agrees the person qualifies. But the visa bulletin's final action date for their category and country hasn't reached their priority date. Until it does, they can't file the I-485. If they filed early under a dates-for-filing chart, they can't be approved. This count is those people, primary beneficiaries only.
Is this the same as the I-485 inventory?
No. The two sit on either side of one line. This page counts approved petitions whose beneficiary is still waiting to file, while USCIS's monthly I-485 inventory counts applications already filed and pending. The queue position calculator on this site reads the inventory, and this page reads the stage before it.
Why doesn't the page say how many years the wait is?
Because the arithmetic needs figures nobody publishes: how many of these beneficiaries will still want the visa when their date comes, how many dependents each brings (USCIS leaves them out here, and the visa limit counts them), and how the annual limit will be split. A years figure built on three guesses would read as a measurement. The count is the measurement. The visa bulletin page on this site shows how the cutoffs have moved.
Why is India so large and Mexico so small?
Each country is limited to about seven percent of the employment-based visas in a year, whatever its demand. India's demand in EB-2 and EB-3 is many times that share, so approved petitions pile up. Mexico's demand is mostly in EB-3 other workers and EB-4, as its row shows.
Where does the fiscal-year table come from?
From a second USCIS workbook: I-140 petitions by the fiscal year they were received and their current status, all countries and the top five. A recent year is mostly still pending because USCIS hasn't decided it yet. Approvals didn't fall.

Read next

More questions

How many people are waiting for an EB-2 India green card?

USCIS counted 356,360 approved petitions for India-born beneficiaries in EB-2 as of June 2026, 91% of everyone waiting in that category, before dependents. USCIS publishes the count. It doesn't publish a wait in years. The green card line divides it by last year's green cards, and how the cutoff has actually moved is on the visa bulletin page.

Why aren't dependents counted?

USCIS counts petitions, and a petition names one beneficiary. The visa limit counts every person, spouse and children included, so the visas these petitions will use is larger than the count shown. USCIS's note on the sheet says so, and this page repeats it rather than estimating a multiplier.

Petitions awaiting a visa through Jun 30, 2026 · I-140 by class and country through Jun 30, 2026. How these figures are counted. Spotted an error? Tell us; every fix is dated in the corrections log.

The sources in full

Petitions awaiting a visa: USCIS approved employment-based petitions awaiting a visa (uscis.gov) · data through Jun 30, 2026 · quarterly

I-140 by class and country: USCIS I-140 receipts by class and country of birth (uscis.gov) · data through Jun 30, 2026 · quarterly

What each source includes

Petitions awaiting a visa: Approved I-140, I-360 and I-526 petitions whose beneficiary is still waiting for a visa number. They're counted by preference and country of birth, as of the month USCIS states. Primary beneficiaries only, with dependents excluded.

I-140 by class and country: I-140 petitions by the fiscal year USCIS received them and their current status, all countries and the top five, with approvals by class. Counted by filing year, so a recent year is mostly still pending.

Cite this page

Waiting on a PERM case?

  • When it'll likely be decided
  • An email when DOL moves it

It's on your ETA-9089 receipt. A case number looks like G-100-26125-868956.

Don't have the number?