Last Updated: September 06, 2023, 06:59 IST
Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)
US sets aside only 1.4 lakh green cards for employment-based applicants every year. (PTI File Photo)
Record US green card backlog affects Indians, with over 400,000 facing a lifetime wait. Legal immigration challenges highlighted
The employment-based green card backlog in the US has reached a new record of 1.8 million cases this year, with Indians bearing the brunt of the burden of the waiting period. According to the Washington DC-based Cato Institute, the backlog consists of immigrants waiting for green cards, largely due to the low green card caps for employer-sponsored immigrants and investors.
A green card is an important document that allows a non-citizen to live and work permanently in the United States. It is also known as a permanent resident card. This backlog is also due to the heavy inflow of skilled Indians in the US – the majority of them holding an H-1B visa.
Under the current system, no single country can receive more than 7 percent of the green cards, known as “country caps,” unless there are unused spots. David J Bier, the associate director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute, said this restriction places a great strain on the 1.1 million cases involving Indians in the backlog.
“Contrary to public perception, immigrants cannot simply wait and get a green card (permanent residence) after a few years. Legal immigration is less like waiting in line and more like winning the lottery: it happens, but it is so rare that it is irrational to expect it in any individual case,” Bier said in his report titled “Why Legal Immigration Is Impossible for Nearly Everyone.”
“There was a backlog of about 1.4 million in 2020 for a cap of just 140,000. Because every country has the same cap, and immigrants from India account for half of all applicants, the backlog is overwhelmingly Indians who face a lifetime of waiting for a green card,” he added.
New applicants from India are now faced with the grim prospect of a lifetime waiting for their green cards, with more than 400,000 projected to die before ever receiving the status. This complex process extends to investors and employment-based “special immigrants,” which include Afghan interpreters and, curiously, abandoned immigrant children.
As of March this year, the backlog includes 80,324 pending employment-based petitions (I-140, I-360, and I-526), covering approximately 171,635 individuals, including spouses and minor children of the workers. An additional 1.3 million individuals are on the waiting list, while 289,000 await the processing of their status adjustment applications.
The employment-based backlog comes on top of the 8.3 million case backlog for the family-sponsored system. These astounding backlogs and massive waits underscore that legal immigration to the US is nearly impossible.
“Even to get to the point of entering the backlog takes an enormous amount of good fortune, and the lucky few that make it through the labyrinth face the daunting prospect of never actually receiving green cards in decades or even their lifetimes,” the report added.
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