The US State Department, in coordination with the US Citizenship and Immigration Services ( USCIS), has confirmed that the EB-3 and EW categories have also reached their annual limits for fiscal year 2025. This follows earlier announcements on visa caps being hit in other employment-based categories: EB-1 & EB-2.
The US embassies and consulates will not issue further EB-3 or EW visas as well until the next fiscal year begins.
The visa quota will reset on October 1, 2025, when new allocations become available.
What EB-3 and EW categories mean
The employment-based green card system is divided into preference groups to balance opportunities across skilled and unskilled workers, professionals, and investors.
The EB-3 category is reserved for skilled workers, professionals, and other qualified workers. Under US law, this category receives 28.6% of the total annual employment-based immigrant visas, along with any numbers unused by the EB-1 and EB-2 categories.
Within EB-3, the “Other Workers” (EW) subcategory is designated for jobs that require less than two years of training or experience. This subcategory has an annual cap of 10,000 visas.
Together, these allocations make EB-3 one of the most sought-after categories, but also one that regularly faces backlogs, particularly for countries with high demand such as India.
How the Green Card cap affects Indian applicants
Indian professionals in EB-3 and EW categories will face further delays in obtaining priority dates. With the EB-3 category officially unavailable until the next fiscal year, no new applications can be processed, even if priority dates fall within the cut-off.
India faces some of the longest waits for employment-based green cards. The September 2025 Visa Bulletin shows no movement in final priority dates for Indian applicants, highlighting years of backlog and limited visa availability. The final action date for EB-3 applicants from India remains at May 22, 2013, meaning only applicants with priority dates before that can proceed.
Although EB-5 investor-category applicants from India saw encouraging progress in August 2025, with final action dates advancing by months, those in employment based categories did not benefit from these changes.
Earlier pauses in EB-1 and EB-2 categories had already deepened the backlog for Indian applicants.
The US embassies and consulates will not issue further EB-3 or EW visas as well until the next fiscal year begins.
The visa quota will reset on October 1, 2025, when new allocations become available.
What EB-3 and EW categories mean
The employment-based green card system is divided into preference groups to balance opportunities across skilled and unskilled workers, professionals, and investors.
The EB-3 category is reserved for skilled workers, professionals, and other qualified workers. Under US law, this category receives 28.6% of the total annual employment-based immigrant visas, along with any numbers unused by the EB-1 and EB-2 categories.
Within EB-3, the “Other Workers” (EW) subcategory is designated for jobs that require less than two years of training or experience. This subcategory has an annual cap of 10,000 visas.
Together, these allocations make EB-3 one of the most sought-after categories, but also one that regularly faces backlogs, particularly for countries with high demand such as India.
How the Green Card cap affects Indian applicants
Indian professionals in EB-3 and EW categories will face further delays in obtaining priority dates. With the EB-3 category officially unavailable until the next fiscal year, no new applications can be processed, even if priority dates fall within the cut-off.
India faces some of the longest waits for employment-based green cards. The September 2025 Visa Bulletin shows no movement in final priority dates for Indian applicants, highlighting years of backlog and limited visa availability. The final action date for EB-3 applicants from India remains at May 22, 2013, meaning only applicants with priority dates before that can proceed.
Although EB-5 investor-category applicants from India saw encouraging progress in August 2025, with final action dates advancing by months, those in employment based categories did not benefit from these changes.
Earlier pauses in EB-1 and EB-2 categories had already deepened the backlog for Indian applicants.
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