Indians on 10-year waitlist for employment-based green cards in US: Report

Only six per cent of the total available green cards in 2016 went to employment-based categories, according to a report of the ruling Republican Party which notes that Indian skilled workers have more than 10 years of waitlist.

The report said as of November 2017, around 112,000 people were on waitlists for all employment-based green cards combined.

It said that only six per cent of the green cards were issued by employment-based categories in 2016.
Amidst a heated immigration debate, the party's report said that in 2016, the US granted around 140,000 employment- based green cards, which was approximately 12 per cent of total green cards issued that year.

US lawmaker pitches for the removal of country specific quota in Green Card

A top American lawmaker has demanded the removal of country-specific quota for legal permanent residency in the US, arguing that over seven lakh high-skilled immigrant workers from India are stuck on a cycle of temporary work visas due to the "arbitrary" cap on Green Cards.

"More than 700,000 high-skilled immigrant workers from India are in the US today on temporary work visas. These people are working hard every day helping grow our economy, raising their children as Americans right here in our communities," Congressman Kevin Yoder from Kansas said in his remarks on the floor of the US House of Representatives.

"But under our immigration system they are stuck on a cycle of temporary work visas, unable to change jobs or even start their own small business to create more American jobs. They're stuck because of the arbitrary seven per nation cap on employment-based green cards," the Republican lawmaker said.

"Right now, there's a mother in Greenland whose unborn child will be able to obtain permanent residence in America before someone from India who is already here and have been working here for years. That's absurd and it's wrong," he said.
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