Over 60K Indians received Green Cards in 2017: US

Of the over 600,000 Indians waiting for the most soughtafter Green Card, only 60,394 received the legal permanent residency last year which allows them to live and work in the US, as per the latest official figures.

Under the current rule, skilled immigrants from India need to wait anywhere between 25-92 years for a Green Card due to per-country limits, said GCReforms.org, a website founded by members of the Indian diaspora living in the US that focusses on immigration issues. As of April 2018, there were 632,219 Indian immigrants and their spouses and minor kids waiting for Green Cards.

Of the 60,394 Indians who received Green Cards in 2017, the maximum 23,569 were issued to the employment-based preferences like those on the H-1B visas.

Having a Green Card allows a person to live and work permanently in the US. IndianAmericans, most of whom are highly skilled and come to the US mainly on the H-1B work visas are the worst sufferers of the current immigration system which imposes a 7% country quota on allotment of Green Cards or permanent legal residency.

As many as 20,549 Indians were issued Green Cards in the capacity of them being immediate relatives (spouses, kids and parents) of the US citizens, while 14,962 Indians were issued the Green Cards under the family sponsored categories like siblings.

The latest annual figures released on October 2 by the Department of Homeland Security, reveal the number of Indians getting Green Cards has dropped, albeit marginally, than the previous two years. In 2015, 64,116 Indians got legal permanent residency, and the next year in 2016, the figure was 64,687.