USCIS March 2026 I-485 Inventory: India EB-2 Falls Again, the 2013 Cohort Keeps Clearing
On June 8, 2026, USCIS published its employment-based I-485 pending inventory as of March 3, 2026, just four days after it released the February snapshot. This is the report that shows how many adjustment-of-status applications are sitting in the USCIS queue, broken down by country, preference category, and priority date. Here is what changed from February to March, with a focus on India EB-2.
Source: USCIS "Pending Applications for Employment-Based Preference Categories as of March 3, 2026" and the prior February 3, 2026 snapshot, from the USCIS Immigration and Citizenship Data page, plus the June 2026 visa bulletin for India EB-2 dates. Figures cover EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3. Not legal advice.
First, a note on timing
These are monthly snapshots, but USCIS posts them in batches that lag the snapshot date. It released the February file on June 4 and the March file on June 8, so two months landed within a single week. "March 2026" is the as-of date, not the publish date, and the data still runs a few months behind real time.
The short version
- Pending India EB-2 I-485 applications fell again to 26,251, down 733 in a month, and once more almost all of the drop was at 2013 priority dates.
- The report still breaks out priority dates only through 2014. There is no 2015 line, because India EB-2 Dates for Filing is still January 15, 2015, so a 2015 priority date cannot file yet.
- Worldwide, the total employment-based I-485 inventory rose about 0.7 percent to 173,948. India and China second and third preference fell, while Rest of World kept rising.
India EB-2: the backlog kept shrinking
The number most people in this community watch: pending India EB-2 I-485 applications fell to 26,251, down 733 from February's 26,984. As in January and February, the decline was not spread evenly across priority dates. It was concentrated almost entirely at the front of the line.
| India EB-2 priority date year | February | March | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 9,233 | 8,594 | down 639 |
| 2014 | 16,928 | 16,884 | down 44 |
| 2012 | 387 | 344 | down 43 |
| 2011 and earlier | 436 | 429 | roughly flat |
| Total | 26,984 | 26,251 | down 733 |
That is now three months running. USCIS clears 2013 priority dates faster than any other cohort while the much larger 2014 group barely moves. For anyone with a 2014 or later priority date, that 2014 wall, almost 17,000 cases deep, is the real story.
Why a 2015 priority date is not even in the report
Here is the part that surprises people. The India EB-2 and EB-3 report only breaks out priority dates from 2005 through 2014. There is no 2015 line at all. The reason is the filing date. In the June 2026 visa bulletin, India EB-2 Dates for Filing is January 15, 2015. If your priority date falls after that, you cannot file your I-485 yet, so your case is not in this pending inventory.
So if your priority date is, say, May 2015, the honest read is not that you are behind 26,000 people in this report. You are not in the report yet at all. The queue that matters for you right now is the roughly 16,900 cases with 2014 priority dates sitting just ahead of the filing cutoff. That 2014 wall is what has to clear before the filing date reaches 2015.
Approvable now versus waiting in line
The report also splits each case by visa status, available or awaiting. For India EB-2, only the older priority dates, the ones before the current September 2013 final action date, are listed as available, meaning a visa number is on hand and the case can be approved. That is a small slice of the total. The large majority, nearly every 2013 and 2014 priority date past that line, is on file but awaiting a current final action date. That awaiting group is the bulk of the 26,251, and it clears only as the final action date advances.
Every country and category: where each cohort is stuck
India EB-2 is one cell in a larger grid. Here is the whole employment-based picture as of March, by country and preference, with the priority date years where the bulk of each backlog actually sits.
| Country and category | March pending | Change vs February | Bulk sits at |
|---|---|---|---|
| India EB-1 | 22,325 | roughly flat | 2022 to 2023 |
| India EB-2 | 26,251 | down 733 | 2013 to 2014 |
| India EB-3 | 16,699 | down 337 | 2013 to 2014 |
| China EB-1 | 5,269 | up 552 | 2022 to 2023 |
| China EB-2 | 5,825 | down 339 | 2020 to 2021 |
| China EB-3 | 5,376 | down 193 | 2020 to 2021 |
| Rest of world EB-1 | 32,850 | up 404 | 2024 to 2025 |
| Rest of world EB-2 | 35,147 | up 1,018 | 2023 to 2024 |
| Rest of world EB-3 | 15,550 | up 802 | 2021 to 2023 |
The priority-date depth of each backlog is basically a map of how oversubscribed the country is. India sits deepest, with EB-2 and EB-3 stuck in 2013 and 2014. China is an era ahead, around 2020 and 2021. Rest of world is at the recent edge, 2023 through 2025, which is another way of saying those categories are close to current. The direction repeated February's pattern: the oversubscribed countries, India and China, saw their EB-2 and EB-3 inventory fall, while Rest of World, where demand is still building, kept rising. Rest of world EB-2 alone added about 1,000 cases, which is what pushed the worldwide total up to 173,948 even as India and China came down. One shift worth noting: India EB-1, which had been rising, went flat this month, and China EB-1 jumped about 550.
How to read the year tables below: they are the current March snapshot. USCIS folds the oldest priority date year into a prior-years bucket as the window moves forward, so comparing a single year across two monthly snapshots can show swings that are really just that window shift. So we give the month-over-month change as a total and break the snapshot out by year.
India, the other two categories
EB-2 is covered above. India EB-1, which retrogressed sharply over the past year, has its backlog bunched in 2022 and 2023 and was flat on the month. India EB-3 mirrors EB-2, stuck in 2013 and 2014, and fell 337.
India EB-1 (March, 22,325)
| Priority date year | March pending |
|---|---|
| 2021 and earlier | 3,939 |
| 2022 | 11,645 |
| 2023 | 6,741 |
| Total | 22,325 |
India EB-3 (March, 16,699)
| Priority date year | March pending |
|---|---|
| 2012 and earlier | 598 |
| 2013 | 3,571 |
| 2014 | 12,530 |
| Total | 16,699 |
China, an era ahead of India
China EB-2 and EB-3 sit in 2020 and 2021, and both edged down this month. China EB-1 sits in 2022 and 2023 and jumped about 550, much like India EB-1 had in prior months.
China EB-1 (March, 5,269)
| Priority date year | March pending |
|---|---|
| 2021 and earlier | 646 |
| 2022 | 1,006 |
| 2023 | 3,617 |
| Total | 5,269 |
China EB-2 (March, 5,825)
| Priority date year | March pending |
|---|---|
| 2019 and earlier | 702 |
| 2020 | 1,143 |
| 2021 | 3,980 |
| Total | 5,825 |
China EB-3 (March, 5,376)
| Priority date year | March pending |
|---|---|
| 2019 and earlier | 383 |
| 2020 | 854 |
| 2021 | 4,139 |
| Total | 5,376 |
Rest of world, the current edge
Rest of world is a different animal. Its inventory is not an old backlog but recent filings moving through near-current dates: EB-1 in 2024 and 2025 with the first 2026 cases already appearing, EB-2 in 2023 and 2024, and EB-3 spread across 2021 to 2023. This is also where the queue grew. Rest of world EB-2 added about 1,000 cases, which is what pushed the worldwide total up even as India and China came down.
Rest of world EB-1 (March, 32,850)
| Priority date year | March pending |
|---|---|
| 2023 and earlier | 3,884 |
| 2024 | 8,832 |
| 2025 | 18,563 |
| 2026 | 1,571 |
| Total | 32,850 |
Rest of world EB-2 (March, 35,147)
| Priority date year | March pending |
|---|---|
| 2022 and earlier | 3,440 |
| 2023 | 14,282 |
| 2024 | 16,558 |
| 2025 and later | 867 |
| Total | 35,147 |
Rest of world EB-3 (March, 15,550)
| Priority date year | March pending |
|---|---|
| 2020 and earlier | 2,754 |
| 2021 | 3,190 |
| 2022 | 2,139 |
| 2023 and later | 7,467 |
| Total | 15,550 |
What this does and does not tell you
Pending inventory is a stock, not a wait time. It tells you how many cases are in front of you, not when you will be approved. Visa number availability, published monthly in the State Department visa bulletin, is what ultimately controls approvals, and it has to be read alongside the annual per-country limits. A shrinking inventory at your priority-date year is a healthy sign, but it is one input, not the whole answer. You can see how these figures feed your own estimate on our Priority Date Estimator, and track category movement in the visa bulletin viewer.
This article is informational only and is not legal advice. Figures are from USCIS public data as of the March 3, 2026 snapshot and the June 2026 visa bulletin, and may change as USCIS posts new releases. For guidance about your own case, consult a licensed immigration attorney.