New provisions could ease the green card process for Indians
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Green Card Process: A new set of immigration provisions to be introduced as part of a budget reconciliation bill in the United States could result in a reduction in wait times for Indians in line for permanent residency.
The suggestions include a set of measures including allowing individuals in the employment green card backlogs. To look for a waiver of the yearly country-cap limitations by paying a super fee of $5000 at the time they file their final adjustment of status applications. Indians presently face decades-long wait times for permanent residency on account of annual country quotas. Also, they account for a greater part of the applications for employer-sponsored greencards, with a majority of them being H-1B visa holders.
Green Card Process for Indians
“This is a stupendous bill, and while it does not have everything. It would allow Indians in the employment green card backlogs to look for a waiver of the numerical limitations… The caveat is that the bill we see currently is not the final bill. And will be subject to markups, and will need to be included in the Senate bill“. Said Cyrus Mehta, managing partner, Cyrus D Mehta, and Partners.
In recent years, companies like Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Amazon have emerged as the top sponsors of greencards. For their employees in a bid to hold on to highly skilled talent which is in relatively short supply in the country. Candidates also have the choice of paying the extra fee themselves to speed up their processing. Even if the employer has sponsored their green card application.
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The new provisions, which were issued on 10th September by the Committee on the Judiciary. Call for easing the path to citizenship for dreamers – children who had entered the US legally or illegally before January 2021.
However, this is probably not going to be the final version of the bill. “The caveat is that the bill we see currently is not the last bill. Also, it will be subject to markups and will need to be included in the Senate bill. Finally, the parliamentarian will determine whether the immigration provisions were revenue-generating provisions or not. As they will be part of a budget reconciliation bill that does not need a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate,” said Mehta.
