2024-08-25 02:50:47
New Delhi: For Indians living in America, getting a ‘Green Card’ is nothing less than a dream come true. People here have to wait for a never-ending wait for a Green Card. There is no hope of relief in sight. Although the official website of the US Bureau of Consular Affairs states that the Green Card process does not take more than 24 months. But many Indians (NRIs) living in America told our sister organization ‘Times of India’ that they are being asked to wait from 40 years to 100 years. This is the situation when these people have been living in America for decades and fulfill all the necessary conditions, such as having an eligible visa and not having any criminal record.
‘I am worried about their children born in India too…’
A man who came to the US from Secunderabad in 1996 and lives in New Jersey said, ‘I applied for my green card in 2005. My current waiting time is 81 years. I am already 53 years old.’ He said, ‘Whenever I contact the Immigration and Citizenship Department, they cite a large number of applications not only from India but from all over the world.’ He worries that his children born in India will also not be able to get a green card in their lifetime. This is not the first case. A report by the Cato Institute, a think tank, said that 34.7 million applications were filed with the authorities in 2024 alone, of which only 3% are expected to receive permanent residence this fiscal year. The annual limit for successful applications for this year has been set at 1.1 million.
Suren, an Indian-origin software developer in the US, reacting to Eric Garcetti’s video message wrote on X, ‘Please don’t come to USA. These are all lies. Don’t believe me? Talk to anyone who has come here to study in the last decade. Your dreams will be shattered. There is no future after your education is over. Your entire career will be spent in search of H-1B visa.’ He wrote, ‘The waiting period for a Green Card for people born in India is 100 years.’
People are fed up with the long wait
Indians living abroad said the long wait was frustrating. “My waiting period is 62 years, and I am almost 40. What use is a green card when I die? I meet all the criteria – eligible visa, no criminal record,” said a project manager living in California, who came to the US from Nagpur in 2010.
What is Green Card?
The Green Card opens the way to permanent residence and work in the US. The Green Card, officially called the Permanent Resident Card, allows a person to live and work permanently in the US. This eliminates the need for a visa to travel to and from the US. It also opens the way to apply for US citizenship.