Why EB Backlogs Are a Growing Challenge in 2025
EB backlogs refer to long wait times for green card availability in employment-based (EB) categories. In the U.S. employment‑based immigrant visa system, specifically in the EB‑2 and EB‑3 preference categories, applicants wait for a visa number to become available, determined by priority date, visa category, and country. When demand is greater than supply, or when priority dates stall, people accumulate in a queue. This can result in very large backlogs.
For a variety of reasons, EB backlogs are becoming more and more of a challenge in 2025.
These reasons include:
- Per‑country caps and quota constraints
U.S. law limits how many green cards each country can receive (7% cap) and fixes total numbers (140,000 employment‑based visas per year, inclusive of dependents). High‑demand countries like India and China, for example, are hitting those caps. This leads to long queues. - Surging demand
There are more and more applicants, more and more people seeking green cards. The backlog was growing already, and 2025 has seen even more filings. The demand in EB‑2 & EB‑3 from countries with large tech and STEM talent pools is particularly high. - Visa number exhaustion and early “unavailability”
The number of visas available each year under each category is limited. EB-2 visa numbers for Indian nationals were fully allocated early in fiscal year 2025, resulting in category ‘unavailability’ in subsequent Visa Bulletins. This cap and number exhaustion freezes movement for all other waiting applicants. Estimates suggest that several hundred thousand additional visa numbers would be needed to eliminate the current EB-2 and EB-3 backlog. - Retrogression and minimal forward movement
Often the Visa Bulletin priority dates, otherwise known as the Final Action Dates or Dates for Filing, move forward very little. In some categories, they even move backwards. This is especially true mid‑fiscal year when there’s concern about exceeding the annual cap.
What Founders and Employers Risk Losing
In 2025, founders and employers, particularly in startups, face growing risks in retaining key foreign employees, especially amid worsening green card (EB-2/EB-3) backlogs and stricter PERM recruitment rules. While large corporations can often absorb attrition, startups are far more exposed. One lost engineer or product lead can delay launches, derail fundraising milestones, or even stall the business entirely.
The financial toll on startups is also significant. Sponsoring a green card involves thousands in legal and recruitment costs. If a case fails, or if the employee is forced to leave due to delays, those investments are lost. Furthermore, PERM recruitment in 2025 has become complicated and perilous to navigate. Prevailing wage timelines are long, audits are more frequent, and even minor advertising or role changes can trigger denials. Startups that restructure or evolve job duties mid-process risk invalidating the entire filing. If a PERM fails or the green card stalls, an employee may run out of work authorization, forcing an exit regardless of performance or value, unless eligible for extensions.
These kinds of disruptions don’t merely affect output. They also send a warning message to other foreign workers, potentially triggering further attrition. Startups that mishandle immigration can gain a negative reputation, making it harder to attract foreign talent in the future. To protect their talent and momentum, startups must prioritize immigration planning early, stay compliant, and treat sponsorship as an essential part of long-term risk management.
Key Tactics to Retain Foreign Talent
Given this context, retaining foreign talent in 2025 requires early, strategic immigration planning. Green card sponsorship is no longer just a perk, but a critical retention tool in a landscape marked by EB-2 and EB-3 backlogs and growing visa uncertainty.
I-140 Timing
To strengthen retention, employers should file the I-140 as soon as the PERM labor certification is approved, ideally within a few weeks. Early I-140 filing locks in the employee’s priority date, enables H-1B extensions beyond the six-year limit, and shows clear intent to support their permanent residency. Delaying this step can erode trust and risk losing the employee to another employer offering faster or more transparent immigration pathways.
AC21 Portability Options
Under the AC21 portability rule, once an I-140 has been approved and 180 days have passed, a foreign employee can change jobs or employers without losing their green card progress but only if the new job is in a “same or similar” occupational classification. While this provides employees flexibility, it introduces retention risk for employers. To mitigate this, companies should invest in career progression, role alignment, and immigration transparency. Employees who feel secure and valued are much less likely to explore portability options, even when eligible.
Spotting EB-1 Potential Early
Employers should evaluate EB-1 eligibility early, ideally during hiring or within the first 6–12 months of employment. Candidates with extraordinary ability, multinational managerial experience, or recognized achievements in science, tech, or business may qualify. Identifying EB-1 potential early allows employers to bypass the lengthy EB-2/EB-3 wait and build a faster, more secure green card plan that strengthens retention and job satisfaction.
PERM Recruitment Pitfalls
Many green card delays stem from avoidable PERM recruitment errors. Common mistakes in 2025 include vague or shifting job descriptions, failure to disclose recent layoffs, inconsistent or poorly worded job ads, and changes in job duties mid-process. These can lead to Department of Labor audits or outright denials, forcing employers to restart the process. This wastes time and money and risks the employee’s visa status. A stable, well-defined role and precise execution are critical to avoid these costly setbacks.
In any case, it is critical to recognize the risks of inaction and delay. Waiting too long to start the process can lead to visa expirations, job mobility under AC21, or even forced departures. By acting early, communicating clearly, and treating immigration as part of long-term talent development, employers can build loyalty and retain top foreign talent, even through years of backlogs.
Planning Beyond 2025
As the challenges outlined above suggest, employers need to think beyond immediate fixes and embed immigration strategy into their long-term talent management plans. In addition to the previously discussed critical tactics, like early I-140 filing and spotting EB-1 potential, planning beyond 2025 requires a broader perspective that goes past these foundational steps. This broader perspective includes building scalable immigration processes and continuously adapting to evolving regulatory environments, ensuring the company remains agile amid potential policy shifts.
Another key aspect is maintaining open, ongoing communication with foreign employees about their immigration status and career trajectories. The previously mentioned importance of transparency and role alignment will become even more vital over time, as trust and employee confidence can significantly influence retention in the face of persistent delays or uncertainties. At their core, these practices help create a resilient talent pipeline by addressing not only the technical but also the human elements of immigration.
The broader imperative, now, is to treat immigration planning as an integral, long-range business function. Employers who proactively invest in compliance, legal expertise, and employee engagement will be best positioned to weather future immigration challenges and safeguard their foreign talent well beyond 2025.
Time isn’t on the side of startups and high-growth companies navigating U.S. immigration. The longer you wait to plan or adjust your strategy, the higher the risk that key international talent will face delays, lose work authorization, or move to employers with faster, more reliable sponsorship.
Conclusion
Having said all that, immigration planning today is no longer just about filings and deadlines; it’s about managing uncertainty. As backlogs continue to grow, companies need to rethink their immigration and recruitment strategies together, adding a new layer to their talent planning: finding smart and practical ways to manage employment-based (EB) green card backlogs.
Those that treat backlog management as an integral part of workforce and recruitment planning rather than an afterthought will be far better positioned to retain key employees and sustain growth, even in an unpredictable system.
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