- Dec 7, 2025
- 2 min read
The October 2025 USCIS I-485 pending inventory for EB-1 India was published on Nov 12, 2025, offering a clear picture of the current wait times.
Last year, the Date of Filing (DOF) for EB-1 India advanced significantly—almost a full year jump—leading many to expect faster approvals.
However, there’s an important detail to remember: You cannot receive your green card until your Final Action Date (FAD) becomes current. For EB-1 India, the FAD is still progressing slowly.
What really determines the movement?
It’s all about how many people are ahead of you in the EB-1 India queue.
Number of People Waiting in EB-1 India (Pending I-485 by Month)
This dataset includes only those who have already filed I-485 applications. It does not account for individuals with approved I-140s who haven’t filed yet, so the actual demand is even higher.
Here are the official counts of EB-1 India applicants (year 2022) waiting for a green card as of October 2, 2025 data:
Year 2022 | Pending EB-1 India I-485 |
|---|---|
March | 332 |
April | 986 |
May | 736 |
June | 870 |
July | 759 |
August | 818 |
September | 981 |
October | 1,046 |
November | 1,071 |
December | 2,297 |
From April to December, year 2022, each month has between 700 and 2,300 people waiting. This long queue is the main reason for the slow movement of the Final Action Date.
What Does This Mean for Final Action Date Movement?
USCIS and DOS can only advance the Final Action Date if there are enough unused visa numbers. Let’s estimate annual visa availability and its impact on EB-1 India.
EB-1 India Annual Green Card Quota (Approximate)
In a typical year:
Total EB-1 quota: 40,040 visas
India’s maximum share: 7% (unless there are spillovers)
Approximate visas for EB-1 India: ~2,800
For FY2025, early indications suggest India may receive around 3,000 visas (a typical year with minor spillovers).
How Many EB-1 India Applicants Have Already Received Green Cards?
With the Final Action Date moved to March, the following have likely been cleared:
March pending: 332
Some approved Consular Processing cases
Duplicates that drop out
Some movement within January and February filers
A safe estimate is that about 1,000 EB-1 India approvals have already been issued this fiscal year.
If the quota is around 3,000, that leaves roughly 2,000 visas remaining for EB-1 India this fiscal year. This is the key number for predicting future Final Action Date movement.
How Far Can the Final Action Date Move?
Let’s total the number of people waiting after March:
Year 2022 | People | Cumulative |
|---|---|---|
April | 986 | 986 |
May | 736 | 1,722 |
June | 870 | 2,592 |
July | 759 | 3,351 |
August | 818 | 4,169 |
September | 981 | 5,150 |
October | 1,046 | 6,196 |
November | 1,071 | 7,267 |
December | 2,297 | 9,564 |
With about 2,000 visas left, movement will likely stop somewhere in April or May (since April and May together total 1,722 applicants). June alone has 870, which is too many to clear.
Predicted Final Action Date Movement for EB-1 India:
Low estimate: Up to April 2022
Moderate estimate: Up to May 2022
High (optimistic): Slight movement into June 2022, but this is unlikely
Any movement beyond this would require additional spillover visas, which are not expected early in FY2025.
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