Kamal Ghorui
The average waiting time for Indians for a Green Card is now 25-30 years.
An Indian-origin student has recently asked Vice President JD Vance at an event of the Turning Point USA what the Trump administration was doing to ease the long waiting list for Indians to get a Green Card in the US. The 20-year-old woman introduced herself as the daughter of immigrant parents from India on the H-1B visa, and who were still waiting for permanent residency in the US. The conversation went viral as JD Vance praised his Indian in-laws and spoke about how immigrant groups should think about America First and not the country from where they originally belonged. One interesting part of the conversation was when the woman said that under the Biden administration, it would take around 150 years for Indians to get a Green Card. The Donald Trump administration is known for its anti-immigration stance, and here’s a look at how much time it takes for Indians to get a Green Card in the US.EB-2 (common for those with master’s degrees or higher): Final Action Date is around July 15, 2014 which means if your priority date is before this, you are eligible now. So if someone applies for a Green Card in this quota, the waiting time will be 11 to 12 years for the visa number to become available, plus the additional processing time. EB-3 (bachelor’s + skilled work): Final Action Date is around November 15, 2013. The waiting time for new applicants will be around 12 to 15 years. These two are the most used paths for H-1B Indians to get a Green Card and because of the huge demand, there is a massive backlog. The existing waiting time in both these categories is average 25-30 years.
‘150 years’ waiting time for Green Card
The ‘150-year waiting time’ stems from an analysis by the Cato Institute, which in a 2023 report, said 400,000 Indian workers in the US hoping for an employment-based Green Card face a 134-year wait. The US has an annual cap of 140,000 employment-based visas and each country has a 7% quota. There is a backlog of 1.8 million cases and out of these 1.1 million are from India, the study said. “New applicants from India will face a lifetime wait, and more than 400,000 will die before they receive a green card,” the report said.The waiting time changes depending on various factors. Many applicants upgrade from EB-3 or EB-2 to EB-1, which is a faster route, emptying some slots. Some opt for EB-5 category which is for investors in the US. Some eventually leave the queue and settle in other countries.
