The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released new data showing that the green card backlog for employment-based immigrants in 2020 has surpassed 1.2 million applicants—the highest number ever. From November 2019 to April 2020, the new data show that demand exceeded the number of green cards issued by more than 109,000. The monthly rate of increase in the backlog has tripled from the rate from 2018 to 2019. Despite the infusion of new green cards in 2021, Indian employer-sponsored applicants face an 8‑decade wait for green cards, and nearly 200,000 will die before they could even theoretically reach the front of the line.
This backlog is caused entirely by insufficient numbers under the green card limits—not delays in processing applications. When a petition is approved but no green card number is available, the immigrant enters the green card backlog. While more employment-based green cards will become available in fiscal year 2021, the new numbers will prove to be far fewer than the number required to meaningfully reduce the backlog. Congress needs to address this problem immediately.
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