More than 1.2 million Indian nationals await the green signal on their application for highly skilled immigrant visas, according to the US government data.

The data from US Citizenship and Immigration Services shows many highly skilled professionals from India are in waiting to gain permanent residence (a green card) due to the per-country limit and the low annual quota, Forbes reported.

They are waiting in the first, second and third employment-based green card categories, according to a National Foundation for American Policy analysis of USCIS data. The data reflect approved I-140 immigrant petitions as of November 2, 2023.

A green card is a US permanent resident permit permitting foreigners to legally move to the US. But there are different categories of cards for people seeking citizenship.

In 1990, Congress set the annual limit for employment-based green cards at 140,000.