Over 10 lakh Indians are waiting for US Green Cards. According to a report, there is immense backlog and the waiting period may be so long that about four lakh of them may not even receive their employment-based Green Cards in this lifetime, unless they manage to live for 134 years!
Yes, the waiting time for US Green Cards is reportedly about 134 years for new applicants from India!
A Green Card officially provides permanent residentship to immigrants to the US. That means, holders of Green Cards can reside in the country permanently. This year, that is, 2023, the job-based Green Card backlog has touched a record high of over one million cases, says a study by David J Bier of the Cato Institute.
The pending cases pertain to immigrants awaiting their Green Cards, mainly because of the low Green Card caps for employer-sponsored immigrants and investors. As a rule, a single country cannot get over seven per cent of Green Cards, unless they would go unused. Indians are the ones who bear the maximum brunt of this rule.
The employers first file their petitions for the workers. If no Green Card is available in keeping with the caps, the petition goes into the waiting list till a spot opens up. One a spot becomes available, the workers can file to have their status changed to permanent resident. A similar procedure is followed by investors and
job-based ‘special immigrants’.
