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Over 10 lakh Indians face years of wait time to acquire a US Green Card!
In a recent visa update, it was found that over 10 lakhs Indians are facing longer waiting time than Chinese nationals to get a US green card! The information was shared by US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) data. The long wait is because of a cap on the number of green cards provided to people from a specific nation and a low annual quota.The data also shows that there are several highly skilled professionals from India, including doctors, engineers and scientists, who are facing more-than-expected long wait times, potentially decades!
As per reports, nearly 838,784 Indians are in the waitlist. The data shows this backlog has increased significantly in recent years.
As per reports shared by Forbes, the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) performed a study of the USCIS data as of November 2. It was discovered that more than 1.2 million Indians are currently waiting for green cards in the top three employment-based categories. across the top three employment-based categories. This includes individuals awaiting clearance in the EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3 preferences, with wait times particularly extensive for Indian applicants compared to those from other nations.
"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," according to the report.
Reasons for the longer wait time for Indian applicants?
The surprising thing is that the wait time for Indians is much longer than for applicants from other nations such as China and the Philippines. It is due to a limit on the number of green cards given to people from each country known as the "per-country limit".
Extended wait times for Indians often coincide with the likelihood of having spouses and children, resulting in an underrepresentation of dependents.
As per NFAP, nearly 148,000 Chinese professionals along with their dependents are waiting in the employment-based green card backlog, with 83,000 in the second preference and 41,000 in the third preference.
As of now, Indians are in the second spot, their application must have been filed before May 15, 2012, to be eligible, according to the State Department!
Source: Times of India
