Why EB-2 NIW Might Not Be a Suitable Avenue for Indian & Chinese Nationals

The EB-2 National Interest Waiver (EB-2 NIW) has long appealed to talented professionals who believe they have something to contribute to the national interests of the U.S. It allows self-petitioning without employer sponsorship and skips the PERM labor-certification step. On paper, it may sound elegant.

However, for applicants from high-demand countries, that smooth narrative collides with the harsh fact of visa availability. The U.S. Department of State’s monthly Visa Bulletin makes the problem all the more visible; EB-2 priority dates for India and China are routinely retrogressed. Now, there are multi-year queues that can swallow an applicant’s timeline.

In this blog, our EB-1A consultants have discussed why EB-2NIW might not be a great idea for Indian and Chinese applicants due to several reasons.

How retrogression transforms “approval” into waiting

When an I-140 in EB-2 NIW is approved, the petitioner’s priority date is secure, and the petitioner may feel relieved. However, approval alone does not grant permanent residency. For Indian and Chinese nationals, an approved I-140 often becomes a ticket to a long waiting room because of per-country limits and heavy demand.

In practical terms, that can mean waiting a decade (or more) between approval and the ability to file Form I-485 or obtain an immigrant visa. Recent analyses and reporting confirm persistent stagnation in EB-2 movement for India and noticeable delays for China as well. Hence, for these nations, an EB-2 NIW approval is only half the battle.

The data on the backlog and its consequences

Independent trackers and immigration observers have documented the bottleneck in processing and pending inventories. Analyses of USCIS I-140 quarterly statistics estimate that tens of thousands of EB-2 NIW cases remained pending by late 2025. Independent reconstructions(not an official USCIS NIW-only count) place the EB-2 NIW “pending inventory” (petitions filed but not yet adjudicated) at roughly 60,000–70,000 cases by late 2025.

Moreover, last year, the U.S. State Department and USCIS confirmed that the Employment-Based Second Preference (EB-2) category reached its annual cap. It has significantly slowed down the transition from I-140 approval to visa issuance.

Last but not least, this month’s bulletin has shown that the EB-2 final action dates for India and China are still stuck at 2013, i.e., lagging more than a decade.

Not a categorical rejection of EB-2 NIW but a strategic caution

Here, we also want to stress, as a disclaimer, that EB-2 NIW is not categorically wrong for every Indian or Chinese applicant. Some applicants may still find EB-2 NIW immensely useful and often the sole way towards a green card and U.S. permanent residency. However, since EB-2 NIW exposes applicants to visa retrogression risk, pursuing it without a well-planned strategy can lead to years of avoidable delay.

Final thought: finding the right strategy

The EB-2 NIW for Indians poses a great deal of bottlenecks and waiting. But if there is no other option, applicants will have to pursue this category. Yet it is not a prudent idea to pursue EB-2 without a backup plan. We would suggest that the best approach should rest on three pillars. These three are:

• Current status protection
• Evidence readiness for scrutiny/RFEs
• Backup plans (parallel tracks like EB-1A, PERM, O-1/H-1B, etc.)

Moreover, our EB-1A experts also believe that your EB-2 NIW approval can work as an excellent bridge to an EB-1A green card. You can directly reach out to us if you need personalized suggestions and strategic insights tailored to your profile. We wish you a safe and stress-free immigration journey.