Over 3L Indians await Green Card
NEW DELHI: India will bring up proposed changes in the US immigration policy, including eligibility for Green Cards and various American visas, at the two-plus-two dialogue between the foreign and defence ministers of the two countries in September, persons familiar with the Indian agenda for the talks said.
A total of 306,601 applications filed by Indian nationals for a US Green Card under the Employment-Based Preference Category are pending approval, the latest available data shows.
Employment-Based Preference Category is the most important category for Green Card (permanent residency) applicants from India. The number of pending applications filed by dependent family members of the primary applicants under the Employment-Based Preference Category is not known.
A US Green Card is much sought after by the Indians. The latest available data shows that in the year 2016, 64,687 Indians received a Green Card, slightly higher than the 64,116 who were given permanent residence by the US in 2015.
The number has varied over the years. For example, in 2014, 77,908 Indian nationals got a Green Card, substantially more than the 68, 458 who did so in 2013. The number stood at 66,434 in 2012. The data is from the US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS).
“We understand that no comprehensive changes have been made by the US administration in recent times to the framework for issuance of green cards to foreign nationals. And in August last year, the USCIS announced that it would expand in-person interviews for the applicants,” expl- ained an Indian official who follows the issue.
He said it is a fact that there several proposals are under consideration in the US for reforming the immigration policy, including the eligibility for Green Cards, and there is nothing India-specific in any of this.
Changes are being proposed both by the legislative and executive wings of the US government to the visa system.
In the current US Congress, seven Bills relating to the H-1B visa programme have been introduced by individual Congressmen and Senators.