Green Card Process Tightened by Washington Leaves 1.2 Million Families Stranded in EB‑2 Backlog

Washington's tightening of the US green card process is deepening a crisis already trapping more than 1.2 million families in an employment-based backlog, with the latest US visa bulletin 2026 offering little relief for those stuck in the EB-2 queue.

The policy shift is seen as a warning that many highly skilled workers could be forced to abandon long-term US plans and re-evaluate their futures abroad. The changes form part of a broader effort to overhaul how the United States handles permanent residency, particularly for high-skilled migrants who have already lived and contributed in the country for years.

Over 1.2 Million Families Frozen in Top Employment-Based Categories

Research by the National Foundation for American Policy, drawing on 2024 US Citizenship and Immigration Services data, found that more than 1.2 million families, including spouses and children, are effectively frozen in the top three employment-based green card categories.

Analysts at major immigration-policy and economic-research organisations have repeatedly highlighted that US per-country caps and yearly quotas are the main drivers of the green card backlog, which is now so vast that prospective wait times stretch into decades rather than years.

Trump Policy Requires Most Applicants to Leave US Before Applying

Indian-American families are now confronting a fresh layer of uncertainty after the Trump administration announced that most green card seekers will be required to leave the United States and apply from their home countries, dramatically altering the adjustment-of-status route once favoured by many legally present migrants.

The move, which US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has said will apply except in 'extraordinary circumstances,' has raised concerns that spouses, children and elderly relatives may be separated during lengthy administrative reviews.

Indian-American immigration advocates and former White House adviser Ajay Bhutoria say the families affected, many of whom have paid taxes, raised children and built careers in the US, could number in the millions under the tightened process.

Monthly Visa Bulletin Offers Little Relief as Wait Times Stretch Into Decades

Every month, the US visa bulletin 2026 sets the priority-date cutoffs for employment-based categories, and for Indian-origin applicants, the movement in the EB-2 India backlog has been erratic at best, often inching forward only to snap back in subsequent months.

For families already waiting 10–15 years, even a one-step-forward-one-step-back pattern can feel like a betrayal of the legal immigration system they once trusted.

The uncertainty has led some companies to reconsider long-term roles for workers who cannot guarantee continued US residency, with immigration lawyers noting that short-term visa windows are increasingly all that can be promised.

Advocates Warn Policy Targets Stable, Tax-Paying Workers

Matt Soerens, vice president of advocacy and public policy at World Relief, argues that the policy disproportionately targets stable, tax-paying workers from countries like India, where the already-severe EB-2 India backlog and the broader Indian green card backlog make the process uniquely gruelling.

Matt Soerens of World Relief said the organisation is calling on Congress to review the per-country caps that underpin the backlog. USCIS has not issued guidance on a timeline for reviewing the 'extraordinary circumstances' exemption to the new departure requirement.

For the families themselves, the situation has become a test of endurance, with many caught between the promise of American opportunity and the reality of an immigration system that now feels more hostile and less predictable.