Comparison Tool

How the 7% Per-Country Cap Creates Backlogs

U.S. law caps each country at 7% of the annual visa limit. With a family-based annual limit near 226,000, that is about 15,820 visas per country per year; with an employment-based limit near 140,000, it is about 9,800. If a single country's demand exceeds its cap, the excess must wait for numbers that roll over from other under-used countries, which is exactly what produces the multi-year backlogs seen in the monthly Visa Bulletin for high-demand countries. Enter your country's estimated annual demand to see whether it clears the cap.

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VisaFig provides general estimates for informational and educational purposes only. U.S. immigration law is complex and outcomes depend on individual facts, current forms, and the monthly Visa Bulletin cutoffs published by the U.S. Department of State, which we do not model here. Government filing fees reflect the DHS 2024 Fee Rule (effective April 1, 2024) and the November 2025 EB-5 court stay, and they change over time - always confirm the exact current fee with the official USCIS Fee Calculator (uscis.gov/fees) before filing. Nothing on this site is legal advice. Consult a licensed immigration attorney or accredited representative for your specific case.

How It Works

Immigration and Nationality Act section 201 sets an overall per-country limitation of 7% of the total number of family-based and employment-based visas. The family-based worldwide limit is fixed near 226,000 and the employment-based limit near 140,000 by statute, so the per-country ceilings work out to roughly 15,820 and 9,800 respectively. We compute the cap as 7% of the chosen category limit, then compare it to the demand you enter. When demand exceeds the cap, that country is oversubscribed and its applicants queue behind the cap, which is the structural mechanism behind Visa Bulletin retrogression and long waits.

What Should You Do?

This tool shows the statutory cap and the arithmetic of oversubscription - it does not predict your personal priority-date cutoff, which depends on the live Visa Bulletin published monthly by the U.S. Department of State and on how many visas other countries leave unused. High-demand countries (commonly China, India, Mexico, and the Philippines in various categories) routinely exceed their 7% caps, which is why their cutoffs lag. Demand estimates here are illustrative; use official Visa Bulletin charts for current cutoffs. This is educational background on why backlogs exist, not legal advice or a wait-time prediction.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where does the 7% come from?

It is the per-country limitation in INA section 201, which caps each country at 7% of the total family-based and employment-based visa allocation.

Why are the limits 226,000 and 140,000?

Those are the statutory worldwide annual ceilings: about 226,000 for family-based and 140,000 for employment-based preference visas, set by Congress.

Does this predict my priority-date wait?

No. It shows the cap structure only. Your actual cutoff depends on the monthly Visa Bulletin and unused visas from other countries, which we do not model.

Which countries hit the cap?

Historically, high-demand countries such as China, India, Mexico, and the Philippines exceed their caps in various categories, creating the longest backlogs.

What about immediate relatives?

Immediate relatives (spouses, unmarried minors, and parents of U.S. citizens) are not subject to the numerical limits or per-country caps, so they do not create backlog math like preference categories do.

Can unused visas help my country?

Yes. Visas unused by one country can shift to others under the statutory spillover rules, which is why cutoffs move month to month in the Visa Bulletin.