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MUMBAI: On cards, in the US budget reconciliation bill (or the draft Build Back Better Act) that was released recently, is a proposal for recapturing unused family and employment-based green card numbers that were unused from 1992 through 2021.
If this proposal does go through, it will help thousands of backlogged skilled Indians, who have a waiting period of 84 years to get an employment-based green card, as per a study by Cato Institute. However, the final outcome of this proposal is still uncertain as it needs to pass both in the House and the Senate.
A recent tweet by Dr Pranav Singh touched a chord among the Indian diaspora in the US. He has returned to India and his sentiments relating to the broken US immigration system resonated with many. He tweeted, “As a US critical care physician, if I decided to leave in the midst of a pandemic to come back to India, this is the number one reason. Systemic racism is entrenched in the US immigration system and Indians are the most marginalised legal immigrants due to segregationist country caps,”

His tweet added that “My wife who is the only endocrinologist in our rural Iowa hospital will be a loss to her patients and community. No one seems to care, so neither do we now.” The last sentence was typed in bold expressing his anguish. TOI has also interacted with several others, who have either returned home to India or have migrated to neighbouring Canada, which provides a smoother path for permanent residency (similar to a US green card) and an easier pathway to citizenship.
According to the Niskanen Center, a Washington based, policy think-tank, there are an estimated 4 million people waiting for family-based green cards and around one million stuck in the employment-based green card backlog.
Annually the US sets aside only 1.40 lakh green cards for employment-based applicants and there is a 7% per country cap. Given the heavy influx of Indians in the US – majority of them holding an H-1B visa, this restrictive policy poses challenges and has resulted in a massive backlog for them in the employment- based category.
However, the criticism that Indians will benefit at the cost of those from other nationalities is unfounded. In his post, Jeremy L. Neufeld, immigration policy analyst at Niskanen Center points out, “…Nothing being considered changes the per country caps. So, as far as recapture is concerned, only 7% of the recaptured visas can go to Indians. Whatever one’s opinions on the per-country caps, they will remain in place and ensure diversity for recipients of recaptured green cards.”
The Build Back Better Act also contains proposals that would allow foreign nationals to pay supplemental fees to skip the green card queues.
Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, states, “I am pleased that the Build Back Better Act legislation released in the US House of Representatives will finally provide relief for the over 1.2 million high-skilled workers stuck in the employment-based green card backlog,” His statement adds, “Democrats have heard these workers’ heart-breaking stories of decades-long green card queues and children being forced to self-deport, and are now taking action…”
In addition, the draft Build Back Better Act amends the Immigration and Nationality Act registry cut-off date to allow individuals who entered the U.S. prior to January 1, 2010 to apply for green cards.
However, given that the Senate Parliamentarian did not agree with earlier immigration proposals being included in a spending bill, the Indian diaspora isn’t cheering yet and has adopted a wait and watch approach.