Indians waiting for permanent residency in the US face longer delays, especially those in the employment-based 2 and 3 categories.
A whopping 1.1 million Indians are in the green card queue, with most falling under these two categories. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) declared they won't accept more EB-2 or EB-3 I-485s from India in fiscal year 2024 and onwards.
Manjunath Gokare, founder of GokareLaw Firm, stressed that only Congress can rectify this disparity between green card supply and demand.
Gokare emphasized the pressing need for more visas in employment-based categories, stating the current 140,000 annual count falls woefully short for an economy of this scale. Failing to address this issue urgently could lead to a talent drain to other nations, he warned.
USCIS clarified on their website that they possess a considerable backlog of employment-based adjustment of status applications for EB-2 and EB-3 India. Consequently, they won't accept new filings throughout the fiscal year 2024 and beyond.
Gokare pointed out the statutory provisions preventing the advancement of dates and the acceptance of new applications when inventory is sufficient.
Additionally, he noted that unused family-based immigrant visa numbers can't transfer to employment-based categories, considering the resurgence in family immigration demand following the pandemic.
