Three States Lead Employment Green Card Petitions
California, Texas, and New York accounted for 35 percent of Form I-140 filings during the third quarter of 2026.
Updated on Oct. 22, 2026 in Employment
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Data from the third quarter of 2026 shows that California, Texas, and New York handled 35 percent of all employment-based green card petitions. During this period, USCIS received 62,932 total Form I-140 filings.
Why it matters
Form I-140 filings reflect the national demand for foreign labor across specialized industries. The concentration of these applications in three states highlights where companies are most actively sponsoring workers for permanent residency.
USCIS received 62,932 total petitions and granted 37,975 approvals between April and June 2026. The national backlog of pending Form I-140 petitions reached 203,204 by the end of the quarter.
The players
USCIS
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services is the federal agency responsible for overseeing lawful immigration to the United States.
The details
Employers use Form I-140 to sponsor foreign workers, though applicants in national-interest-waiver categories can petition independently. Indian-born workers accounted for 31.1 percent of total filings and 68.8 percent of all EB-2 category petitions during the quarter.
Timeline
USCIS tracked petition receipts and approvals from April 1, 2026, to June 30, 2026.
Macro View
This data reflects the ongoing impact of the Immigration and Nationality Act employment-based preference categories on the U.S. labor market. These filings mirror historical trends where a small group of states consistently anchors the majority of foreign talent recruitment.
The high volume of pending petitions suggests that workers in affected industries may face prolonged processing timelines for residency status. Readers monitoring job market competitiveness should note that recruitment of foreign talent remains heavily concentrated in California, Texas, and New York.
The takeaway
Understanding these petition figures helps identify regional economic hotspots where companies are aggressively hiring foreign labor. Businesses may use this data to assess the intensity of labor competition in their specific sector and state.
Further reading
For broader trends in labor and immigration, visit the United States Employment section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by The American Bazaar.
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