Country-based quota behind long Green Card wait time for India, says official
Douglas Rand, the Senior Advisor to the director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), said the annual limit established by Congress on family-sponsored preference green cards is 2,26,000 for the whole world while the annual limit on employment-based green cards is 1,40,000.
On top of that, the per-country limit is set at seven per cent of the total annual family-sponsored and employment-based preference limits, he told Indian Americans during a virtual town hall organised by the State Department on visa and consular issues.
“That means 25,620. That is why individuals from India, China, Mexico and the Philippines typically face such long wait times than people from other countries,” Rand said in response to a question.
“There is demand for so many more than 25,620 green cards for both family and employment-based every year. Unfortunately, only Congress can change these annual limits. So our job is to do everything we can within these constraints to ensure that when those Green Card numbers are available, we make sure that they’re utilised each and every year,” Rand said.
