Every Indian who goes to work in America dreams of getting a green card there, but now the wait for it is increasing for Indians. Indians applying now in certain employment-based categories may have to wait up to 179 years for a green card, according to a new analysis by the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP). This situation is a matter of great concern for thousands of Indian high-skilled professionals working in America and planning to settle there.
According to NFAP, about 10 lakh Indians are already in the queue of pending green card cases. Indians account for about 79 percent of the total pending applications, while the waiting time in many categories is shorter for citizens of countries like China and the Philippines.
In which 3 categories do Indians apply?
EB-1: For people with extraordinary abilities in fields like science, business, arts or sports.
EB-2: For professionals with advanced degrees or exceptional ability.
EB-3: For graduate degree holders and other skilled labourers.
About 1.40 lakh employment-based green cards are available in the US every year. Under the current system, not more than 7 percent of the total available green cards can be issued to citizens of any one country. Apart from this, the EB-4 category is for religious workers, while the EB-5 category is set for investors.
How much wait for Indians in which category?
EB-1 5 years
EB-2 179 years
EB-3 38 years
Why are Indians the most stranded?
According to NFAP, 996,599 Indians are currently stuck in the backlog across all three major categories of employment-based green cards. The major reason for this long queue is considered to be the country-specific limit on employment-based green cards. Due to the large number of Indian professionals, the gap between applications and available green cards has continuously increased. NFAP points out that the green card backlog of Indian professionals is not a recent problem. This problem has persisted for at least a decade.
According to NFAP, in fiscal year 2016, USCIS approved 47,601 applications for Indians in the EB-2 category. This number was estimated to be 98,594 people when dependents were added, but only 4,407 people from India could get permanent residence under the EB-2 category in the same financial year.
Why has the challenge increased for American companies?
According to NFAP, the long green card backlog is not just a problem for Indian professionals, but it is also affecting American companies. Due to prolonged uncertainty of permanent residence for Indians working in the US, it may be difficult for companies to attract foreign talent and retain them in the US for a long time.
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