A bipartisan group of 56 US lawmakers, led by Congressmen Raja Krishnamoorthi and Larry Bucshon, is pushing for executive action to resolve the 195-year Green Card backlog for Indian applicants. This backlog has caused immense distress and uncertainty for Indian professionals, particularly those in the tech industry, and is a result of the seven percent country cap on employment-based Green Card allocation, which disproportionately affects countries like India.
Highlighting the Impact on Indian Tech Professionals
The Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies (FIIDS USA) has emphasized the impact of this backlog on Indian tech professionals who play a crucial role in maintaining the US’s competitive edge in technology industries. However, the long wait period prevents them from making meaningful contributions to the country’s growth and innovation.
Appeal to the Biden Administration for Executive Action
The group of lawmakers is urging President Joe Biden and his administration to take executive action to make priority dates current for Green Card applicants from India. This action is aimed at reducing the 195-year backlog, providing much-needed relief to high-skilled employment-based visa holders.
Call to Mark All Dates for Filing of Visa Applications as “Current”
Additionally, the lawmakers are appealing to the administration to designate all dates for filing employment-based visa applications as “current.” This would allow applicants to file their applications regardless of their country-based priority date. Such a change could potentially make some eligible for employment authorization documents, granting them the freedom to change jobs, start businesses, and travel abroad without penalties.
Immigration Voice’s Perspective
Aman Kapoor, President of Immigration Voice, has lauded this proposal as a “game changer” for nearly one million high-skilled immigrants whose status in the US is entirely dependent on their employer and can be terminated at any moment. He criticized the current “discriminatory” immigration system that forces Indian nationals to endure a 200-year wait for a Green Card while people from 150 other countries face no wait at all.
Call for Equal Rights
Kapoor and Immigration Voice are urging the Biden administration to take action and grant high-skilled immigrants, who have been in the US for over a decade, the same rights to work and travel as those being paroled into the country for the first time. They believe that basic human rights and fairness should be extended to all immigrants, regardless of their country of origin.
The bipartisan letter represents a significant effort to address the long-standing Green Card backlog issue for Indian applicants, and it remains to be seen how the Biden administration will respond to this call for action.