Over 1L Indian Kids May Age-Out Before Obtaining Green Card, At 'High Risk' of Family Separation: Study

[Spartan]

A recent study found over 11 lakh Indians face a high risk of separation from family as they are caught up in the employment green-card backlog - EB-2 and EB-3 categories, while nearly 1.34 lakh kids will age out before they obtain a green card.

According to recent research by David J. Bier, associate director of immigration studies with the Cato Institute, the employment-based green card backlog from India (EB-2 and EB-3 skilled category) reached over 10.7 lakh in March 2023, which means that considering factors such as death and ageing-out are considered, the wait for a green card is 54 years, else it is 134 years.

The long Green Card backlog is due to the heavy inflow of skilled Indians in the United States – the majority of them holding an H-1B visa, this restrictive policy poses challenges.

Notably, the US sets aside only 1.4 lakh green cards for employment-based applicants every year and there is a 7% per country cap, which makes the waiting period for Indians even longer.

What is the condition for Indian kids in the US?

Children of Indian kids, who arrive in the US with their parents or guardians, who are on H-1B work visas, continue to reside in the States with H-4 visas. This type of visa expires when these kids turn 21.

Once they age out, these children who are referred to as documented dreamers have no option but to obtain an F-1 visa meant for international students, which poses several challenges such as limited work opportunities for the student and higher fees. The only other alternative is to self-deport to India or another country.

“The fact that Chinese and Indians dominate the backlog is the result of the country caps where green cards are not issued proportionally to the number of pending applicants in each country but rather limited arbitrarily at 7% per nation of birth," researcher Bier was quoted as saying by TOI.

In June, Indian-American Congressman Shri Thanedar announced that he would be co-sponsoring a bill on eliminating visa backlogs.

Eliminating the Backlogs Act of 2023, the bipartisan bill introduced in the House of Representatives seeks to effectively utilise the employment-based visas that are allocated each year under existing federal immigration law.

As per the National Immigration Forum, the employment-based Green Card backlog reached 1.6 million by the end of Fiscal Year 2022.

[8pm]

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