Immigrant workers seeking a green card—which denotes legal permanent residence in the United States—now face more than a three-year wait to make it through the government’s regulatory morass. Paying a $2,500 fee could cut this wait to “only” 2 years and 5 months. The government has added nearly 16 months to the average green card process since 2016, with more than a year added in 2021 and 2022 alone. These processing delays come on top of the time to wait for a green card cap slot to become available under the annual limits (which can be many years). They also do not include the time spent to comply with regulations prior to the first filing step. This prefiling period can take months.
Total green card processing times
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- 2022 Regular Processing Time: 1,171 days, 39 months, 3.2 years
- If paying the $2,500 premium processing fee: 862 days, 29 months, 2.4 years
- 2016 Regular Processing Time: 705 days, 23 months, 1.9 years
- If paying the $2,500 premium processing fee: 567 days, 19 months, 1.6 years
- 2022 Regular Processing Time: 1,171 days, 39 months, 3.2 years
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