The US Commission votes to handle all green card applicants within six months
Key Takeaways:
- According to a presidential advisory council, President Joe Biden should complete all green card and permanent residency card applications within six months.
- Ajay Jain Bhutoria, a well-known Indian American community activist, offered the concept at a PACAANHPI conference in Washington, DC.
- The immigration system, according to Bhutoria, has not evolved to keep pace with the significant rise of the US population in recent decades.
A presidential advisory commission overwhelmingly recommended that President Joe Biden process all green card and permanent residence card applications within six months. Green Card holders are capable of living and also work in the United States indefinitely.
Joe Biden will be asked to approve the suggestions of the President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and also Pacific Islanders (PACAANHPI). Once approved, it might bring relief to hundreds of thousands of Indian Americans waiting years, if not decades, for permanent status in the United States.
During a meeting of the PACAANHPI in Washington, DC, famous Indian American community leader Ajay Jain Bhutoria proposed the idea. All 25 commissioners unanimously supported the idea.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) should assess their procedures and set new internal cycle time targets by removing any redundant steps, automating any manual approvals, upgrading their internal dashboards and reporting system, and revising policies, according to the commission.
Decrease the cycle time for processing all forms relating to family-based green card applications, DACA renewals, and all other green card applications to six months, and issue adjudication decisions within six months of receiving the application.
It also recommended that the State Department's National Visa Center (NVC) hire more officers to boost their capacity to execute green card application interviews by 100% in 3 months starting in August 2022 and also to increase green card application visa interviews as well as adjudicate decisions by 150 percent by April 2023.
"After that, Green Card visa interviews and processing should take no more than six months," it stated.
According to Bhutoria, the immigration system has not evolved to keep up with the rapid growth of the US population in recent decades. The disproportionate numbers of family preference green cards issued compared to available green cards were highlighted in Bhutoria's policy document. Out of the 226,000 green cards available, only 65,452 family choice green cards were given in FY 2021. Hundreds of thousands of green cards went unused, separating countless more families.
"The long wait for a green card causes enormous hardship for American families who have been separated from their loved ones for decades, even if those persons are already qualified to immigrate," Bhutoria said.
"Family separation takes a tremendous emotional toll on families. It imposes evident logistical, economic, and emotional challenges on families," he continued, "and the rising nature of the backlogs makes the process unclear and future planning impossible."