In a concerning development for thousands of Indians waiting for permanent resident status (green card) in the US, the waiting time in the employment-based 2 and 3 categories is increasing. There are currently 1.1 million Indians in the queue for green cards, with the majority in the EB-2 and EB-3 categories.
In its website, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), in the FAQs section, has recently explained that it has a significant number of employment-based adjustment of status applications in its inventory, for EB-2 and EB-3 India, for this entire fiscal year 2024 (October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2024) and beyond.
“The number of Indians in queue for green cards is at a staggering 1.1 million; with most in EB-2 and EB-3 categories. Now, USCIS has also announced that there is sufficient inventory for EB-2 and EB-3 I-485s from India for the fiscal year 2024 and beyond,” says Manjunath Gokare, founder and managing partner of Gokare Law Firm, a business immigration law firm based in Alpharetta, Georgia told TOI.
Form I-485 is the final step in the US green card application process that allows foreign nationals to adjust their lawful immigration status. The EB-2 and EB-3 categories are both employment-based, with EB-2 requiring an advanced degree or exceptional ability in the sciences, arts, or business, and EB-3 requiring at least a bachelor’s degree.
Gokare highlights the urgent need for more employment-based visas, stating that the current annual limit of 140,000 is insufficient for a country as economically robust as the United States. If this issue is not addressed promptly, the US risks losing talented individuals to other countries.
The recent USCIS FAQs reveal that as the agency returns to normal operations post-COVID-19, there are fewer unused family-based immigrant visa numbers available to increase the number of employment-based immigrant visas in fiscal year 2024.
Once there are no more unused family-based numbers, the annual number of available employment-based immigrant visas is expected to return to 140,000. However, this limit set by Congress over three decades ago is insufficient to meet the demand for employment-based immigrant visas in all categories.
As a result, non-citizens from all countries should anticipate longer waits for immigrant visas, unless there are changes to the statute or an unexpected decrease in the number of non-citizens seeking employment-based immigrant visas.
USCIS acknowledges the challenges faced by those affected by the prolonged wait times and expresses its commitment to working with Congress to find solutions. While USCIS continues to pursue policy and regulatory changes to bring more certainty, stability, and protection for employer-sponsored non-citizens, it emphasizes that only Congress has the power to alleviate the constraints on immigrant visa numbers.