Eliminating country quotas will make path to the permanent residency easier for Indians: US Congressional report

Trip Savvy

  • It would get easier for Indians to get US citizenship if the country cap in green cards is removed, said an annual Congressional report.
  • Nearly 78% of the 395,025 foreign nationals waiting for Green Cards in employment-based LPR applications are Indians.
  • Indians have to wait for an average period of nine years to get a green card that allows any person to live or work permanently in the US.
Thousands of Indian struggling to get American citizenship would benefit if the US government considers revising or eliminating the per-country ceiling on employment-based Legal Permanent Residency (LPR), according to a Congressional report.

A US ‘Green Card’ that grant a permanent residency status to foreigners gives any person the right to live and work permanently in the US.

Nearly 78% of the 395,025 foreign nationals waiting for Green Cards in employment-based LPR applications are Indians with the majority of them to go through the current wait period of almost a decade. Further, the waiting period is relative in nature and may increase or decrease depending on the number of applications received annually, said the report.

Eliminating the country quota will not only make LPR process easy but also benefit the IT service industry that finds it difficult to employ Indian techies.

“Currently, nationals from India in particular, and to a lesser extent China and the Philippines, face lengthy queues and inordinately long waits to receive LPR status. Many of those waiting for employment-based LPR status are already employed in the United States on temporary visas,’’ said the report.

If the lawmakers consider eliminating the country cap then nationals from India, China and the Philippines will not have to wait much long time.

Many proposals were made to remove the per-country ceiling cap in past years but none have been incorporated.

The US government awards 140,000 visas every year for all five employment-based LPR categories. Further, it also imposes per-country ceiling of maximum seven percent on each country that is sending immigrants.

While the many may think it is tough to get the citizenship, In 2017, over 50,000 Indians took oath of American citizenship, said Economic Times citing an official report.

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