Shocking! Will Indians be able to get the Green Card?

A latest report by Cato Institute revealed that almost 4 lakh Indians are waiting to get their Green Card in US. The backlog has reached 1.8 million cases, this year.

According to the press release shared by Cato, the backlog consists of immigrants who are waiting to receive green cards, primarily the result of low green card caps for employer‐​sponsored immigrants and investors. Because no country may receive more than 7 percent of the green cards (the country caps) unless they would otherwise go unused, the 1.1 million cases from Indians in the backlog bear most of the burden of the broken system.

The report further seems to be a shock for the new applicants from India, who may have to face a lifetime wait, and more than 400,000 will die before they receive a green card.

A Green Card jargon is generally used for the Permanent citizenship in US. The people who get the Green Card are allowed to live and work in the country. Many Indians who are issued Green Card often give up on the citizenship in India, and are termed as NRIs.

According to the data shared by the reporting agency, in March 2023, almost 80,324 employments‐​based petitions were pending (I‑140, I‑360, and I‑526), representing about 171,635 people with spouses and minor children of the workers included. Another 1.3 million were waitlisted, and 289,000 were pending adjustment of status applications.

In addition to this, there is also a backlog of 123,234 permanent labour certification applications, which is the start of the employment‐​based Green Card queue.