Biden urged to resolve 195-year US Green Card backlog for Indians

Washington: A group of US lawmakers has urged the Biden administration to take executive action to make priority dates current for Green Card applicants from India to reduce the 195-year-long wait period which has left them in a constant state of limbo.

Led by Congressmen Raja Krishnamoorthi and Larry Bucshon, the bipartisan group of 56 lawmakers sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas requesting the administration take executive action to provide relief to high-skilled employmentbased visa holders.

In their letter, the US lawmakers also appealed to the administration to mark all dates for filing of employment-based visa applications in the Bureau of Consular Affairs' published Employment-Based Visa Bullet in as "current".

A Green Card, known officially as a Permanent Resident Card, is a document issued to immigrants to the US as evidence that the bearer has been granted the privilege of residing permanently.

The current situation surrounding the seven per cent country cap on employment-based Green Card allocation is causing severe repercussions, particularly for countries such as India, where the backlog has reached an astonishing 195 years, said Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies (FIIDS USA) in a separate appeal to the US President Joe Biden.

This backlog disproportionately affects Indian tech professionals, who constitute a significant portion of the highly skilled STEM talent and US-educated graduates, playing a crucial role in maintaining the United States' competitive edge in the technology industries, it said.

STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects. However, the backlog has created a significant barrier, hindering these talented individuals from contributing meaningfully to the country's growth and innovation, the FIIDS observed.

This year, the FIIDS has made several efforts in addressing the concerns of the immigrant Indian community, in particular those related to Green Card and H-1B visas.

"We started efforts to get relief to Indian H-1Bs who are stuck in Green Card processing. We launched a change petition, we are approaching representatives, various other organisations and influencers. We are reaching out to the Bureau of consular services in the state department as well as the USCIS in the DHS to take administrative action to make the priority dates current for green card applicants," Khanderao Kand from FIIDS said.

The H-1B visa is a nonimmigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. (PTI)