US introduces new bill to lift country-caps on Green Cards

WASHINGTON: Two identical legislations have been introduced in US Congress to lift the countrycaps on Green Cards in yet another attempt to end the massive backlog of applications that keep Indians waiting for the longest period of time, over a 100 years at the current rate of disposal, according to some estimates.

Senators Kamala Harris and Mike Lee introduced the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act on Wednesday in the senate and Representative Zoe Lofgren and Ken Buck followed up on Thursday moving the same bill in the House of Representatives.

“Ours is a nation of immigrants, and our strength has always come from our diversity and our unity,” Harris, the only Indian American in the US senate ever, said in a statement announcing her bill. “

The legislation increases the per-country caps for family-sponsored green cards from 7% percent to 15% percent — without adding any new green cards, the bill creates a “first-come, firstserved” system that “alleviates the backlogs and allows green cards to be awarded more efficiently”.

Under the present system there is a country cap that limits the number of Green Cards — permanent residency, which is one step from citizenship — issued to people from any one country to 7% of the annual quota. The largest applicants are from countries like India and China, and they have to wait for a long time for their turn.

There are 306,601 people from India that are waiting for their Green card, accounting for almost 78% of the total 395,025 in the category of employmentbased immigration, a majority of the are on H-1B visa for highly skilled foreigners. The Chinese are in the second slot with 67,031, but on a different employmentbased immigration route, one meant for investors.

THERE ARE 306,601 PEOPLE FROM INDIA THAT ARE WAITING FOR THEIR GREEN CARD, ACCOUNTING FOR ALMOST 78% OF THE TOTAL 395,025 IN THE CATEGORY OF EMPLOYMENT-BASED IMMIGRATION.