Several Indian nationals waiting for employment-based green cards have reported an unexpected change in their USCIS case status, triggering concern among applicants whose immigration cases have been pending for years.

The online status on affected Form I-485 cases reportedly changed to a message saying the case “requires USCIS to send a notice.” Immigration attorney Rahul Reddy said the same message appeared across a large number of pending cases, particularly among Indian applicants in the EB-2 and EB-3 categories. He attributed the pattern to a likely system-level update or technical glitch rather than individual problems with the applications.

USCIS has not publicly confirmed that the status change is the result of a technical error. The agency’s official case-status system allo

ws applicants to track applications using a 13-character receipt number and separately provides tools for reporting missing notices or submitting case inquiries.

Why the status change has caused concern

The affected applicants include Indian professionals who have been waiting years for permanent residence. According to the reported cases, many have EB-2 or EB-3 priority dates dating to 2014 or 2015.

That matters because employment-based green card approvals are governed by annual numerical limits and country-specific allocations. A priority date determines an applicant’s place in the queue, while the monthly Visa Bulletin establishes which applications can receive final action.

The September 2026 Visa Bulletin shows a particularly significant backlog for Indians. The EB-2 India Final Action Date is listed as unavailable for September, while the EB-3 India Final Action Date is January 1, 2014. For EB-1 India, the Final Action Date is October 15, 2022.

For applicants who are eligible to file based on the Dates for Filing chart, September’s cutoff for India is January 15, 2015 for both EB-2 and EB-3. The distinction between the filing and final-action dates is important: being permitted to file an I-485 does not necessarily mean a green card can immediately be approved.

Reddy said the uniformity of the new status was a key reason he viewed it as a system issue rather than a case-specific development.

“What we are seeing now is the same status message appearing across thousands of pending cases at the same time.”

The reported status change therefore does not, by itself, establish that USCIS has denied an application, requested additional evidence or taken an adverse action.

USCIS says notices can relate to several stages of an immigration case, including Requests for Evidence, Requests for Additional Information, biometrics appointments, interviews and final decisions. Applicants who believe a notice has been issued but have not received it can use the agency’s non-delivery-of-notice inquiry system.

Green card backlog adds to uncertainty

The timing of the status change is significant because the US fiscal year ends on September 30, with the new fiscal year beginning October 1. The State Department has set the worldwide employment-based preference limit for FY2026 at 186,317, while the statutory per-country limit is generally 7% of the combined family-sponsored and employment-based annual limits. India is one of the countries subject to the per-country allocation rules because of its high demand.

The State Department also said in May that all available FY2026 EB-2 immigrant visas allocated to applicants chargeable to India had been used. It said the annual limits would reset on October 1, 2026, when the new fiscal year begins.

The September Visa Bulletin further warns that demand in EB-2 could require retrogression or make the category unavailable before the fiscal year ends. The department said it was monitoring visa use and demand.

Reddy’s second key message to applicants was that the unusual online update should not automatically be interpreted as a problem with their individual green card cases.

“A status change of this scale and uniformity reflects a system-level update, not a problem with your file.”

USCIS has not announced a new green card rule associated with the reported status change. Until the agency provides a case-specific notice or clarification, the status message alone does not establish whether any particular application has been approved, denied, transferred or placed on hold. Applicants should therefore check their USCIS accounts and physical mail for any actual notice and respond to any official request within the specified deadline.