How backlogged is the US Immigration System for Indians?

If you are an Indian or an Indian immigrant with an American dream, there's no way you haven't heard about the green card backlogs and the tale of hardships it brings along. EB-2 and EB-3 visa categories, which bring in skilled immigrant workers to the US, are most affected by this backlog. And Indians are the most affected as they amount to the largest population waiting on the list.

The backlog for Indian immigrants grew from 633,953 in 2018 to 720,187 in 2021.

Why the long wait?

Indians make up about 82% of the total backlog. The table shows how around 720,000 Indians need to wait for 90 years to get a green card under the EB-2 or EB-3 categories. These unrealistic wait times that go over an average human's life expectancy also point to an inevitable future where half of these people either die or age out before receiving their green cards.

So, why is it happening?

The primary reason is the age-old annual per-country cap on green cards. Though introduced to replace the country-of-origin quota system, this new system is outdated and incompetent to handle the mass immigration of Indian and Chinese engineers owing to the boom in fields like Information Technology and Software Engineering.

According to the current cap system, 14,0000 employment-based green cards are issued annually, with a limit of no more than 7% per country. These 14,0000 green cards are divided among the five employment-based categories- EB1, EB2, EB3, EB4, and EB5. As per this division, out of 40040 green cards are available under the EB-2 and EB-3 category, only 5600(2* 7% of 40040) are available for Indians.

So, if the number of Indian applicants under the EB-2/EB-3 category exceeds 2800, the excess applicants are pushed to the following year's list. This creates a huge backlog as the number of applicants keeps increasing each year. At present, India is backlogged to such an extent that even if it receives spillovers or unused visas from other countries, the queue will still take decades to clear up.

So, if the number of Indian applicants under the EB-2 category exceeds 40040, the excess applicants are pushed to the following year's list. This creates a huge backlog as the number of applicants keeps increasing each year.

Another reason for the backlog is how families of the applicants also add to the green card cap. On one hand, this unjustifiable addition puts more principal applicants in an unfavorable position as they now have to compete with dependents of other applicants to win their green cards. On the other hand, it puts immigrant families through many hardships because of the uncertainty surrounding their green cards.

How is it affecting Indians?

An immigrant, Indian or otherwise, must go through multiple steps before getting their hands on the prize- the green card. They need to get PERM certification, file an I-140 immigrant petition, get it approved, and the day of approval is the applicant's priority date. The Department of State uses this priority date to maintain the applicant list, which determines their place in the queue for the green card. As there are only a limited number of green cards granted annually, the queue is exceptionally long and hard for Indians. They can file for an I-485 petition for a green card only after their priority date becomes current.

This puts them in an uncertain position and robs them of benefits like unrestricted travel or higher pay and forces them to adjust to unfavorable circumstances like countless visa renewals, or living under the constant fear of being torn away from their families. In addition, since EB2 and EB3 petitions are employer-sponsored, employees get exploited for their uncertain visa status by toxic employers at times.

In response to a study conducted on the effect of immigration backlog on immigrants, a participant says,

"I've been in the US for over 10 years now. I've been through very stressful situations many times due to many things such as Visa renewals, Visa stamping, travel plans, spouse's ability to work, family plans and financial stress. Also, at times it feels that companies take advantage due to Visa issues. Life has been stagnant and hoping for the situation to improve. "

This decades of waiting puts the children of immigrants- the ones who call the US their home, at the risk of aging out and getting deported. Once they reach the age of 21, they lose the opportunity to get their visa as dependents. The families get held in limbo since the kids are still financially dependent on their parents working in the US, forcing the kids to secure a student or work permit to continue staying in the US.

This forceful change of status from one who calls the US their home to a foreigner emotionally impacts the immigrant children. Sumana Kaluvai, an Indian immigrant who aged out recently, recounts how it was shocking and disturbing to her to be a foreigner in a country she called home.

"Suddenly, I was filling out different college application forms than my friends, checking off the "international student" box, and worst of all, I was hiding this from most of my friends and teachers."

Is there a way to get past this?

If you think there's no way to give wings to your American dream unless the US government brings into action its latest Eagle Act, you're wrong. As an Indian engineer, you can still get your green card if you just change one thing- apply for an EB-1A visa instead of an EB-2 visa.

An EB-1A visa also called an Einstein visa, is commonly known for being issued only to those who have excelled in their field and have received prestigious awards. In reality, it can be secured by anyone who follows 3 out of 10 conditions put forward by the USCIS.

What makes EB-1 visas a desirable choice is that they aren't tied to employers. Hence you can sponsor yourself even if you are unemployed. The priority dates for EB-1 visas are also current, and hence you needn't worry about backlogs or children aging out.

Wanna know more about Einstein Visa and how you can get your green card through it? Stay tuned for our next blog on Einstein Visa.