Biden wants to address delays in the Green Card processing system
3 min read
US President Joe Biden needs to address the inordinate delays in the processing system of the Green Card, the White House has said. A move that will help numerous Indians working in America on the H-1B visa.
A Green Card, known officially as a Permanent Resident Card, is a document given to immigrants to the US. As proof that the bearer has been granted the privilege of residing permanently in the US.
Indian IT professionals, the majority of whom are highly skilled and come to the US mainly on the H-1B work visas, are the worst sufferers of the current immigration system. Which imposes a seven percent for every country quota on allotment of the desired Green Card or permanent legal residency.
“The president wants to address the delays in the Green Card processing system too,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters at her everyday news conference on Friday.
She was reacting to a question on the wastage of exactly 80,000 unused employment-based Green Card numbers. Which is officially lled Legal Permanent Residency on October 1, as the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is unable to allocate them to a few million individuals waiting in line for a Green Card.
The extreme delay in the Green Card process of hundreds and thousands of skilled Indian technology professionals. At times running into a very long while, is one of the significant issues of concern among the Indian-Americans and their dependent kids living here.
Green Card processing system
Moreover, indian technology professionals had asked the Biden government and the US Congress to roll out vital legislative changes to not let those Green Card slots expire.
Earlier this week, Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks introduced the Preserving Employment Visas Act. That would allow the USCIS to save unused employment-based visas for use in Fiscal Years 2020 and 2021. The legislation is the House companion to S. 2828, introduced by Senator Thom Tillis in September.
“Guaranteeing that our immigration system is fair and efficient is one of my main concerns in Congress. Furthermore, these visas are now approved by Congress and would have been used if not for the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Miller-Meeks.
“My legislation would fuel the American recovery from COVID-19, add to long-term economic growth, and give help to medical care suppliers by reducing the Green Card backlog,” she said.
Also, Check [Good news for H-1B visa holders stranded in India]
In fiscal 2020; a total of 122,000 family-preference visas went unused. This caused the number of employment-based visas available in FY21 to rise to 226,000. Also, this dramatic increase in employment-based visas addresses a unique chance to lessen the Green Card backlog. And further improve American competitiveness through legal immigration.
Moreover, processing delays at the USCIS could put these much-needed employment-based visas to waste. As indicated by recent court filings, USCIS is currently at danger of wasting almost 83,000 employment-based visas. Which were terminated on 1st October 2021 this year. This is in addition to 9,100 unused employment-based visas from FY20.
Wasting these visas would be a significant loss to American economic competitiveness and the medical services industry. American businesses and healthcare suppliers were already struggling to fill both skilled and unskilled jobs. Before COVID-19 and continue to face labor shortages during recovery from the pandemic, said the Congresswoman.
