How Many People Are Ahead of You in EB-2 India? Reading USCIS's October 2026 I-485 Inventory

USCIS's new inventory shows at least 27,253 EB-2 India I-485s pending, and one spreadsheet tab lets you count how many filed cases sit ahead of your own priority date.

Part of our guide to Form I-485.

As of November 1, 2026, the EB-2 India pending inventory in USCIS's newest count (the employment-based I-485 inventory, data as of 2026-10-05, posted 2026-10-26) is at least 27,253 I-485s: 3,289 "available", meaning the priority date was already current, and 23,964 "awaiting" a visa number. Of those waiting, 2,329 have November-December 2013 priority dates, 20,637 have 2014 dates and 998 have January 2015 dates. EB-3 India shows 1,816 available and 13,364 awaiting. Every figure undercounts the real line, and none of them is a wait time.

What else is true today: the November 2026 Visa Bulletin is published (released 2026-10-22). EB-2 India's Final Action Date stayed at 2013-11-01, while EB-3 India's moved to 2014-01-22, so EB-3 is now later than EB-2. USCIS requires the Dates for Filing chart (2015-01-15 for both India categories) for November I-485s, according to its adjustment of status filing charts page. The December bulletin is not published; any December cutoff you see is a forecast.

If your priority date is in 2014, the useful number is how many filed cases sit ahead of your date; the month-by-month arithmetic is below.

How big is the EB-2 India pending inventory?

USCIS's October 2026 inventory counts at least 27,253 pending EB-2 India I-485 applications as of October 5, 2026: 3,289 with priority dates already current and 23,964 awaiting a visa number, nearly all with 2014 or late-2013 dates. It excludes consular cases and anyone who has not filed an I-485, so the true queue is longer.

India EB-2 and EB-3 in the USCIS I-485 inventory (data as of 2026-10-05; table as of 2026-11)

Source: the USCIS EB I-485 inventory spreadsheet, "India (EB2 EB3)" tab. Nationwide, the report lists 225,196 pending employment-based I-485s in published cells: Rest of World 120,432, India 71,417 and China 23,168.

What do "available" and "awaiting" mean in the USCIS inventory?

"Available" means the priority date was already current, so a visa number can be used once the case is approved. "Awaiting Availability" means the I-485 is on file, usually under the Dates for Filing chart, but the priority date is not yet current.

The spreadsheet's note says: "This report used the Visa Bulletin dates for the month in which the data was queried." That was October 2026, and the cells line up with October's Final Action Dates (our reading): EB-2 India's "available" rows stop at October 2013, and EB-3 India's run through December 2013.

• "Available" does not mean an approval is coming soon. These 3,289 EB-2 India cases are current yet still pending, and the table does not say why. Of them, 2,922 have January-October 2013 priority dates.
• The snapshot ages. November moved EB-3 India to 2014-01-22, so some of the 775 EB-3 India cases with January 2014 dates are now current, even though the table still lists them as awaiting.

USCIS's "How to Read This Report" tab states the rule for counting: "Every application on the report with a priority date that is earlier than the given priority date is ahead in the queue for adjustment of status."

How many people with 2014 priority dates are waiting in EB-2 India?

As of 2026-10-05, 20,637 EB-2 India I-485s with 2014 priority dates were awaiting a visa number. Every 2014 monthly cell is published, so this figure is not reduced by suppression. The months are uneven: early 2014 runs about 1,000 a month, while every month from September to December 2014 passes 2,000.

EB-2 and EB-3 India filed I-485s by 2014 priority-date month (USCIS data as of 2026-10-05; cumulative columns are our arithmetic; table as of 2026-11)

The "earlier priority dates" columns start with every "available" case, so they inherit its suppressed cells and are floors. The months are priority-date months, not I-485 filing dates, and the report does not split by day, so it cannot tell you where you sit inside your own month.

Worked example: an EB-2 India priority date of June 15, 2014

Take a hypothetical H-1B worker whose PERM application the Department of Labor accepted for processing on 2014-06-15; under the spreadsheet's first note, that is the priority date. The EB-2 I-140 is approved and the I-485 is on file. The count ahead, all our arithmetic:

1. Count every "available" EB-2 India case: at least 3,289.
2. Add the awaiting cases with November and December 2013 dates: 2,329.
3. Add January through May 2014: 1,172 + 1,033 + 979 + 1,100 + 1,584 = 5,868.
4. Hold June 2014 apart: 1,861 cases share the month, and the table cannot say how many have dates before the 15th.

Result: between 11,486 and 13,347 filed EB-2 India I-485s in the published cells are ahead of a June 15, 2014 date, before adding the suppressed cells and everything else the table leaves out.

The same date in EB-3 India would have between 5,512 and 6,845 filed EB-3 India I-485s ahead in the published cells. That is not a wait time either: the table says nothing about how many visa numbers each category will receive, and the EB-3 count does not include EB-2 holders who might file EB-3 petitions later. Whether a second petition makes sense for you is a question for your employer's immigration attorney; our guide to an EB-3 downgrade versus waiting in EB-2 sets out the trade-offs.

The November-December 2013 group

The 2,329 EB-2 India cases with November-December 2013 dates, plus the part of January 2014's 1,172 dated before the 22nd, hold priority dates that are current in EB-3 India in November 2026 but not in EB-2 India. That is the group asking about downgrades. In general practice the employer files a new EB-3 I-140 and the priority date carries over, but that has to be checked case by case with counsel.

What the example leaves out

The count misses consular applicants and unfiled beneficiaries with earlier dates, plus the suppressed cells covered below. It can also grow ahead of you: USCIS warns of "new Form I-485 applications based on older priority dates due to priority date retention or applications transferring from one basis to another." It can shrink through duplicates ("Some individuals may have multiple pending I-485 applications"), denials and withdrawals. The table gives no numbers for any of these.

Why the EB-2 India backlog in this table is a floor

Suppressed cells

A "D" in the spreadsheet means "Disclosure standards not met." In the India EB-2/EB-3 tab, 51 EB-2 "available" cells and 61 EB-3 "available" cells are suppressed, all of them for priority dates in 2012 or earlier. A sum treats them as zero, so the available counts, India's 71,417 and the 225,196 nationwide total are all floors. The "awaiting" rows have no suppressed cells.

Consular cases and people who never filed

USCIS is explicit that "this report does not contain information about DOS inventory, nor does it have any information about aliens with pending or approved immigrant visa petitions who have not yet applied for adjustment of status." Nothing still at the Department of Labor is counted either: the report "contains no information about pending applications for permanent labor certifications or prevailing wage determination requests." USCIS concludes that it "does not provide a complete picture of those in the queue for employment-based immigrant visas."

Dependents are inside this count

Each family member who adjusts files their own I-485, so this table counts applications, not families (our reading; USCIS does not split principals from dependents here). A family of three with one priority date can appear as three applications. If your children are getting close to 21, our guide to CSPA age calculation for employment green cards explains how their age is measured.

How many approved I-140s are waiting for visas?

USCIS's approved-petitions table, as of June 2026 and posted 2026-09-08, counts 856,662 primary beneficiaries of approved employment-based petitions awaiting visa availability. India accounts for 491,773, including 356,360 in EB-2 and 106,214 in EB-3.

Three limits apply before you use those numbers:

• "The counts of approved petitions represent only primary beneficiaries. Dependents are not included."
• The table "could contain multiple petitions for a single individual." Someone holding both an EB-2 and an EB-3 I-140 can appear twice.
• There is no priority-date breakdown, and someone with an approved I-140 and a pending I-485 can sit in both tables. The I-140 table also sorts by country of birth, while the inventory sorts by country of chargeability.

Only about 27,000 EB-2 India I-485s are on file, so most of the 356,360 must be people who cannot file yet because of later priority dates, people processing abroad, or duplicate petitions. The table does not give the mix (our inference).

If you are on F-1 STEM OPT or H-1B and your employer is filing PERM now, your priority date will be years behind everyone in the I-485 table, and you will not appear in it until a chart USCIS accepts for filing reaches your date. Once approved, an I-140 still supports three-year H-1B extensions under AC21 section 104(c); see our guide to the H-1B extension after six years with an approved I-140.

Three USCIS green-card numbers that don't add up

USCIS employment-based queue reports compared (as of 2026-11)

Common misconception: "The employment-based backlog fell from 268,408 to 225,196." Correction: the two figures come from different USCIS reports with different definitions and different dates. The gap says nothing about whether the line got shorter.

Can you turn the inventory into a wait time?

No. The inventory counts applications; it is not a rate. Applicants charged to India are capped by the per-country limit (about 25,620 for FY2027, a figure we carried from an earlier review and have not re-verified), which is not an EB-2 India allotment, and spouses and children use numbers too.

Forecasts miss, too. The State Department's non-binding July projection put EB-2 India at "at least July 15, 2014." The November 2026 bulletin left it at 2013-11-01 (see Fragomen's summary of the November 2026 bulletin). Trackers expect the December bulletin around mid-November; it will appear on the State Department's Visa Bulletin page. To read each new bulletin correctly, see our Visa Bulletin and priority date explainer and our EB-2 and EB-3 India priority date strategy guide.

How to find your own place in the EB-2 India queue

1. Find your priority date on your I-140 approval notice (Form I-797). For a PERM-based case it is the date DOL accepted the labor certification application for processing, not the date it was certified.
2. Check the USCIS adjustment of status filing charts page to see which chart applies this month. For November 2026 it is Dates for Filing.
3. Download the inventory from the USCIS immigration and citizenship data page and open the "India (EB2 EB3)" tab.
4. Add every cell in your category with an earlier priority-date month. Treat "D" as unknown, not zero, and keep your own month as a range.
5. Check the form rules on the USCIS I-485 page before any filing: USCIS accepts only the 09/18/26 edition, with no grace period, and a package sent to an old filing location is accepted only if postmarked on or before 2026-11-09. Under PA-2026-05 (in effect since 2026-08-05, challenged in AAUP v. Mullin), officers may deny without a Request for Evidence when required initial evidence is missing.
6. Plan for (c)(9) EAD renewals. Under the final rule ending automatic EAD extensions (in effect since 2026-10-14; challenged, with court relief so far for seven plaintiffs only), renewals filed on or after 2025-10-30 get no automatic extension. H-1B status is a separate work authorization.
7. Ask your employer's immigration attorney about a downgrade, porting or priority-date retention, and ask your DSO about anything still tied to F-1, OPT or STEM OPT.
8. Recount when the December 2026 bulletin and the next USCIS inventory are published.

For everything else that changed this month, see our employment-based green card news for November 2026.

Common mistakes

• Calling 23,964 "the EB-2 India backlog". It is only the EB-2 India I-485s on file and not yet current. The 3,289 current cases, suppressed cells, consular cases and unfiled beneficiaries come on top.
• Reading "D" as zero. A suppressed cell is an unknown count.
• Adding or comparing tables. The I-140 table, the inventory and the quarterly I-485 report overlap, use different definitions and date from different months.
• Dividing the queue by the per-country limit. That gives a number that looks like a wait time but isn't one.
• Using last month's chart. USCIS picks the chart each month.

Frequently asked questions

How many EB-2 India I-485s are pending?

USCIS's employment-based I-485 inventory, with data as of 2026-10-05 and posted 2026-10-26, shows at least 27,253 pending EB-2 India I-485 applications: 3,289 whose priority dates were already current and 23,964 awaiting a visa number. It is a floor, because suppressed cells are not counted and consular cases and people who have not filed are excluded.

How many people with 2014 priority dates are waiting in EB-2 India?

The inventory lists 20,637 EB-2 India I-485s with 2014 priority dates awaiting visa availability as of 2026-10-05. Every 2014 monthly cell is published, so suppression does not reduce it. It counts filed applications, including spouses and children who file their own, and it leaves out consular cases.

What does available vs awaiting mean in the USCIS inventory?

"Available" means the priority date was already current. USCIS says it used the Visa Bulletin for the month it ran the query, October 2026, and the cells match that month's Final Action Dates. "Awaiting availability" means the I-485 is on file but the priority date was not yet current. An available case is still pending, so it is not an approval.

Does the USCIS I-485 inventory include consular cases?

No. USCIS says the report does not contain Department of State inventory and has no information about people with pending or approved immigrant petitions who have not yet applied to adjust status. Anyone processing abroad with an earlier priority date is ahead of you but missing from the count.

How many approved I-140s are waiting for visas?

USCIS counted 856,662 primary beneficiaries of approved employment-based petitions awaiting visa availability as of June 2026 (posted 2026-09-08). India accounts for 491,773, including 356,360 in EB-2 and 106,214 in EB-3. Dependents are excluded, there is no priority-date breakdown, and one person can appear more than once.

Sources

• USCIS, EB I-485 inventory, data as of October 5, 2026
• USCIS, approved I-140, I-360 and I-526/E petitions awaiting visa availability, as of June 2026
• USCIS, I-485 performance data, FY2026 Q3
• USCIS, adjustment of status filing charts from the Visa Bulletin
• USCIS, Form I-485
• USCIS, immigration and citizenship data
• U.S. Department of State, Visa Bulletin
• Federal Register, removal of automatic extensions for certain EADs (2026-10-14)
• Fragomen, November 2026 Visa Bulletin summary

How we checked this: on 2026-11-01 and 2026-11-02 we downloaded the three USCIS spreadsheets cited here, re-added the India cells, counted the suppressed cells, and checked the November 2026 bulletin dates against USCIS's filing-charts page and Fragomen's summary.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Your own I-797 notices and receipts govern, and decisions about petitions, downgrades or status belong with a licensed immigration attorney, or with your DSO for anything F-1, OPT or STEM OPT.

A long green-card line usually means years of staying employable on H-1B or STEM OPT. If you want help finding employers that sponsor while you wait, F1Jobs works with international candidates on exactly that kind of search.