The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is hurrying to issue 280,000 green cards before the fiscal year closes on September 30, 2022.
While the pandemic resulted in a large number of available employment-based green cards due to closures and limited operations at US embassies and consular offices, as of mid-June 2022, USCIS and the US Department of State (DOS) had used much more visas than at the same point in FY 2021.
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The USCIS alone is utilising more than twice as many visas every week than it did at this point in FY 2021.
The two agencies have combined to use 149,733 employment-based immigrant permits through May 31, 2022. In a statement, the USCIS stated that they remain dedicated to taking all feasible policy and procedural action to maximize our utilization of all available visas by the end of the fiscal year.
According to data from the US visa office, the US government had 66,781 unused employment-based green cards in the fiscal year 2021, despite the fact that 1.4 million immigrants were waiting in line. The vast majority of individuals are Indians who have been awaiting green cards for years.
Last year, USCIS granted 180,000 green cards, which was higher than a typical year but still fell short of the amount available.
According to the Times of India, the processing period for employer-sponsored green cards will exceed three years in 2022.
A USD 2,500 fee might shorten the wait by at least seven months, bringing it down to just two years and five months. Since 2016, the government has added over 16 months to the typical green card procedure, with more than a year added only in 2021 and 2022.
Employer-sponsored immigrants must go through six processes, including a prefiling stage in which the applicant and employer must present documentation proving their eligibility for a green card.
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Following that, the Department of Labour evaluates current earnings, skill level, and area code. In the instance of pay determination, the waiting period has tripled to 182 days in 2022, up from 76 days in 2016.
Source: The Economic Times
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