NEW DELHI: In a fresh twist to the tale, the waiting time for highly skilled Indians aiming for the US Green Card has extended further. 

The recent move by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) delivers a hard blow to EB-1 visa aspirants, with a focus on the Indian demographic. The final action date has regressed by a significant decade, as revealed in the August visa bulletin. This unexpected setback brings about a delay in the issuance of visas for these proficient individuals.

The impact of this alteration stretches beyond just bureaucratic processes. It has the potential to disrupt carefully laid-out plans, casting a shadow of uncertainty over career trajectories, educational pursuits, and even personal family choices. The bulletin released by the USCIS highlights the oversubscription of the EB-1 visa quota for Indian applicants. This prompts the application of prorating under INA 202(e) to manage the overwhelming demand. Prorating essentially means distributing the limited visas among various countries or regions in proportion to their demand.

Until now, applicants from India had the opportunity to receive unutilized visas that were initially assigned to other countries. This practice, however, comes to an abrupt halt due to the surge in demand for EB-1 visas from those other nations as well. Consequently, the department is left with no choice but to withhold the allocation of these visas to Indian applicants. This policy shift is in line with INA 202(a)(5), a fact that the official statement underscores.

The landscape for Indian applicants seeking the EB-1 green card category is undergoing a substantial shift. A significant retrogression of a decade has been observed in the final action date, with the timeline now tracing back to January 2012 due to the mounting demand. This elongated wait stems from the retention of applicants who initially filed under the EB-2/EB-3 categories between 2012 and 2015. Depending on the interplay of demand and visa limits, there's a possibility of the final action date advancing to October in the fiscal year 2024.

But what exactly is a visa bulletin? Each month, the US Department of State issues a bulletin, which serves as a guidepost for green card applicants. It illuminates whether your application has progressed or remained static. Furthermore, it offers an estimated waiting time for your visa as well as an insight into the timeline for obtaining your green card.

Last month a bipartisan assembly of 56 US lawmakers, led by Raja Krishnamoorthi and Larry Bucshon, has rallied to prompt the Biden administration into action. Their collective voice advocates for executive measures that would expedite the processing of green card applications for Indian candidates. This group of lawmakers reached out to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, appealing for relief from the astonishing 195-year-long wait period that highly skilled immigrants have been enduring.

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