The presidential commission has recommended to cut the processing time for Green Card applications to just six months and to clear the backlogs by April 2023. After this recommendation, the White House is looking into the same.
This move would mean a lot to the hundreds of thousands of immigrant families, especially those from China and India.
On Friday, the inaugural report was released by the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders.
The report was approved on May 12 and transmitted to the President on August 24 and the White House Domestic Policy Council is currently reviewing its recommendations before they can sent to President Joe Biden for his decision.
The green cards processing to the annual cap has been difficult due to the COVID-19-related closures and staffing limitations as well as the continued effect of the 2017 travel bans.
The Recommendation by Commission
The recommendation includes the hiring of additional officers to increase its capacity to process Green Card application interviews by 100 percent in three months from August 2022. By April 2023, the plan is to increase the Green Card applications and visa interviews and adjudicate decisions by 150 percent.
In the report, the committee said that the timelines for Green Card visa interviews and visa processing should be limited to a targeted goal of six months. A Target goal of six months should be limited to the Green Card visa interviews and visa processing timelines.
As per the recommendation, by streamlining processes, removing redundant steps, if any, and automating any manual approvals the agency’s pending family-based Green Card backlog, US Citizenship and Immigration Services should review their processes, systems, and policies and establish new internal cycle time goals.
In order to reduce the cycle time for processing all forms related to family-based Green Card applications the policies shall be enhanced, also the internal dashboards and reporting system are to be improved.
Due to an increase in family-based immigration backlogs over the past three decades, for years the family reunification has been delayed.
In FY 2021, only 65,452 family-based preference green cards were issued out of 226,000 green cards available.
“If there is a query or more information is needed, USCIS (the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) and the Department of State (DOS) shall continue to process the applications outside the six-month goal and adjudicate decisions in a timely fashion”. The report states that “If an application is not completed in six months, then it will not be terminated and will continue to be processed in a timely fashion ongoing”.
The recommendations also include adjudicating requests for temporary work programmes, such as the H-1B and H-2A visas for agricultural workers within a span of two months extending the period of work permit extension to 365 days instead of the current 180 days.
What is a Green Card?
It is a Permanent Resident Card issued to immigrants to the US as evidence that the bearer has been granted the privilege of residing permanently while the H1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to hire foreign workers for specialized positions that call for theoretical or technical expertise.
Many immigrants come from India and China, and if the recommendations are implemented, then it will be a big relief.
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