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Biden wants to address delays in Green Card processing system, says White House after slots wasted
White House press secretary was asked about the wastage of some 80,000 unused employment-based Green Card numbers on October 1 as the US Citizenship and Immigration Services failed to allocate them.
US President Joe Biden wants to address the delays in the Green Card processing system, the White House said on Friday, a move that could benefit many Indian IT professionals working in the United States on temporary work visas. H-1B visa allows US employers to temporarily hire foreign workers in speciality occupations, and a majority of them are from India and China.
The current US immigration system imposes a seven per cent quota on Green Card allotment per country, making Indian professionals on H-1B visas wait for years to receive the coveted Permanent Resident Card. Biden had promised an overhaul of the US immigration system for giving a pathway to citizenship for undocumented as well as legal migrants.
If the Biden administration addresses the delays in the processing system of Green Card, it could help thousands of Indians waiting to receive the Green Card.
During a media briefing, White House press secretary Jen Psaki was asked about the wastage of some 80,000 unused employment-based Green Card numbers on October 1 as the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) failed to allocate them. Indian IT professionals had been urging the Biden administration and the US Congress for a legislative amendment that would not let the Green Card slots expire when several million people are waiting in line for the lawful permanent resident (LPR) status.
“The President absolutely wants to address the delays in the green card processing system as well,” Psaki responded.
Earlier this week, Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks introduced legislation that would USCIS preserve unused employment-based visas for use in Fiscal Years 2020 and 2021.
“Ensuring that our immigration system is fair and orderly is one of my top priorities in Congress. These visas are already authorized by Congress and would have been used if not for the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Miller-Meeks after introducing the Preserving Employment Visas Act.
