More than a million Indians are caught in an extended queue for green playing cards, in line with US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) knowledge. This wait is because of a cap on the quantity of green playing cards given to individuals from a selected nation and a low annual quota.

The USCIS knowledge reveals that many extremely expert professionals from India, together with docs, engineers and scientists, are dealing with extraordinarily lengthy wait occasions, probably a long time, to realize everlasting residency within the United States, in line with a Forbes report.

These lengthy wait occasions could cause issues for each people and their households, and may also make it tougher for the US to draw and maintain proficient employees, says the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) after analysing the USCIS knowledge.

RISE IN NUMBER OF INDIANS WAITING FOR GREEN CARD

According to the Forbes report, the the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) performed a examine of the USCIS knowledge as of November 2, and located that over 1.2 million Indians, together with dependents, are at present ready for green playing cards within the high three employment-based classes.

First Preference (EB-1): This employment-based first choice, also referred to as EB-1, class consists of employees with extraordinary talents, excellent professors and researchers, and multinational executives or managers. An estimated 143,497 Indians are ready on this backlog.

Second Preference (EB-2): This employment-based second choice, also referred to as EB-2, class consists of professionals with superior levels and other people with distinctive potential in science, arts or enterprise.

An estimated 838,784 Indians are ready on this backlog. The USCIS knowledge reveals this backlog has grown considerably in latest years.

“The USCIS data from 2020 suggest that the Indian backlog in the EB-2 category rose by more than 240,000 or 40% in approximately three years,” in line with the Forbes report.

Third Preference (EB-3): This employment-based third choice, also referred to as EB-3, class consists of expert employees and professionals whose jobs require a bachelor’s diploma.

According to USCIS, 138,581 principals are within the employment-based third choice, also referred to as EB-3. NFAP estimates a further 138,581 dependents for a complete of 277,162 Indians within the third choice backlog.

The NFAP analysed USCIS knowledge and located 1,259,443 Indians within the high three employment-based immigration classes as of November 2, 2023.

Indians’ longer waits imply they’re extra prone to have spouses and kids, resulting in an underestimation of dependents.

Without Congressional motion, the backlog is projected to develop. The Congressional Research Service (CRS) estimated the backlog for Indians in these classes to achieve 2,195,795 by FY 2030, taking 195 years to clear, reported Forbes.

WAIT TIME FOR INDIANS LONGER THAN OTHER NATIONALS’

The wait occasions for Indians are for much longer than for individuals from different international locations, together with China and the Philippines, as a result of of a restrict on the quantity of green playing cards given to individuals from every nation. This is named the “per-country limit”.

The NFAP estimates that just about 148,000 Chinese professionals and their dependents are ready within the employment-based green card backlog, with roughly 83,000 within the second choice and 41,000 within the third choice, reported Forbes.

The Visa Bulletin, which is launched month-to-month by the US Department of State, reveals the precedence date required to be eligible to obtain a green card in every employment-based choice class.

Currently, for Indians within the second choice class, their utility will need to have been filed earlier than May 15, 2012, to be eligible, in line with the State Department.

(*1*) in line with the State Department.

IMPACT AND CALL TO ACTION

These lengthy wait occasions could cause lots of stress and uncertainty for people and their households. It may also make it tougher for the US to draw and retain proficient employees from India.

The lengthy wait for green playing cards is as a result of of two foremost issues in US regulation: the yearly restrict on green playing cards for jobs, set at 140,000, and the rule that no nation can get greater than 7% of these green playing cards.

This rule hits onerous on expert employees from huge international locations like India, China, and the Philippines.

Without adjustments to the present system, the backlog is anticipated to proceed to develop. The National Foundation for American Policy is looking on Congress to take motion to deal with this drawback, as acknowledged within the report.