Complete Guide to the Green Card Backlog

People who want to become lawful permanent residents need to go through a process that will help them obtain their green cards. There is an estimated number of 13.2 million people who possess a green card. Sadly, not all immigrants are lucky enough to get a green card immediately. In reality, ever since Congress updated the cap last time – which was 30 years ago – the demand for green cards has increased. As such, the cap is preventing many people from applying for green cards.

What exactly is the green card backlog, and how can it be fixed?

What Is the Green Card Backlog?

The green card backlog refers to the immigrants who have to wait in a backlog due to the limited number of green cards. The green card limits are outdated, and that’s why so many immigrants have to deal with an issue like this. As the backlog has reached a length that it never reached before, the system needs reform.

Employment-Based Green Card Backlog

Immigrants can obtain an employment-based green card, but only if they go through particular steps. These include:

• Having a petition submitted, usually by their employer, that requests permission for the immigrant to apply for a green card; this helps them become a beneficiary
• Applying for a green card if the petition gets approved

But the green card petition beneficiary may also just do the second step, as long as the green card cap hasn’t been reached yet. Meanwhile, if there isn’t enough cap space, then the immigrant with the approved petition will enter the backlog. Therefore, you would be waiting to apply for a green card, not to have your petition processed, as the latter already happened. Once cap numbers become available, you will be able to apply for your green card.

From April 20, 2018, to November 12, 2019, 215,395 approved petitions were entering the employment-based backlog. As a result, the total waiting list grew from 831,826 to 1,047,221, thus averaging 137,852 per year. But the cap of the employment-based green card system is only 140,000 green cards every year – so, there are more petitions filed than green cards issued to them.

As a consequence of this limit, many skilled immigrant workers are not able to become legal residents. There are five preference categories that divide the employment-based immigration system of the United States. They are based on the priority they are offered for green cards. As such, different categories will have their own annual caps.

• EB-1 – This category includes priority workers, such as athletes, scientists, businessmen, artists or professors acclaimed internationally, as well as multinational executives. Unused EB-4 and EB-5 green cards are also included. The annual cap for them is 40,040.
• EB-2 – The 2^nd category includes professionals, such as people who were offered employment in jobs that require an advanced degree or higher than that. Workers who have expertise above the ordinary in their field, as well as unused EB-1 green cards, are also part of this category. The annual cap for them is 40,040 as well.
• EB-3 – The 3^rd preference is for skilled workers. Skilled workers can be people who have at least two years of experience, as well as people who have been offered a job that requires a bachelor’s degree. It applies for unused EB-2 green cards too. The cap is 35,040. It’s important to note that this category also has the EB-3O option, which is for other workers, who have been offered jobs that don’t require them to have a bachelor’s degree. There’s a 5,000 cap for them. 
• EB-4 – Here, we have the 4^th preference, which has a 9,940 cap for special immigrants. These may be broadcasters, religious workers, military and government employees of the United States and abandoned juveniles.
• EB-5 – The fifth category has a 9,940 cap and is for foreign investors with investments between $500,000 and $1.8 million. The investments must have been made in a new U.S. commercial enterprise, which will then make 10 permanent full-time jobs for workers in the U.S.

There is one aspect that also affects the green card backlog. Apart from immigrants who apply for a green card based on their work, their families – consisting of spouses and minor children – are usually eligible for green cards too. So, they have to wait in the backlog, which is another thing that takes away from the cap space of principal immigrants. Family members of workers make up most of the employment-based backlog. Consequently, the backlog and wait times are growing, and people end up thinking they may not receive their green card for more than a decade.

Another important consideration is the fact that green cards are also limited depending on the birth country of the applicants. Having said that, no more than 7% of green cards for a single year can be issued to a single birthplace. This is why a lot of applicants from particular places will have to wait in the backlog.

For instance, the countries with most applicants are India and China. Indians have a hard time obtaining a green card as a result, as their backlog has 780,579, which is 75% of the total. From April 2018 to November 2019, the backlog for India increased by almost 150,000. While there has been an increase in China and other countries, it wasn’t as big as the one for India.

During the same period, the overall employment-based green card backlog had an annual increase rate of 137,852. As such, it can be estimated that there will be more than 2.4 million petitions at the start of 2030, most of them being for Indian and Chinese immigrants.

Projected Future Wait Times for the Green Card Backlog

Although it cannot be said for sure how long everyone is going to wait in the green card backlog, there have been estimations. If everyone remains in line, then there will be groups that will have to wait for more than a decade.

Those who are new EB-2 and EB-3 employees in businesses of the United States will have an 89-year lifetime wait. There could be around 209,116 petitions expiring because the petitioners would die until their green cards can be issued. 98% of the deaths would be because of Indians waiting in the EB-2 and EB-3 lines, and even still, 63 years would be necessary for the survivors to be processed.

There might also be abandoned petitions as a lot of children of immigrant workers will age out, respectively turn 21. In addition, it should be noted that there might be only 56% of people waiting in line that could receive their green card through an employment-based process. Conversely, 44% of Indian EB-2 and EB-3 might be able to receive their green cards in the end.

Several reasons could cause petitioners to give up on their petitions. They might be getting their green card through a different method, like marrying a citizen of the United States, or they might have another employer refile for them. Others just give up on it and leave the country.

How Can the Green Card Backlog Be Fixed?

Fixing the green card backlog might be a time-consuming process, but one that is necessary so more people would be able to obtain their green cards before they leave this world.

One thing that could be done as a first step would be getting rid of per-country limits. This would allow more people from certain birthplaces to obtain their green cards, thus not being limited to 7%. At the same time, this may not be enough to prevent the waiting time for all immigrants, so the backlog problem would not be fully solved.

A very good solution that could get rid of the green card backlog would be increasing the number of green cards. Since only a certain number of green cards can be offered on an annual basis, it prevents other skilled workers from getting theirs. Increasing the number of green cards that can be offered annually will make things much easier for all petitioners, giving them higher chances to obtain a green card sooner. This way, they will avoid being stuck in the backlog until the end of their lives.

Conclusion

The green card backlog prevents a lot of people from getting their merit-based legal permanent residency. Because there is a limit of how many people can obtain a green card annually, many are left waiting in line, which will later make other people have to wait for their own green card. A big number of those waiting in line are family members of immigrant workers, like a spouse and children, and they often prevent actual workers from being able to get their cards. The U.S. needs to do something to solve this issue, because the waiting times are very long, for some people going as far as a few decades. At this rate, many will be unable to obtain a green card before their death, so there’s a need for change. For more information on green cards, visas and anything of the sort, Stilt might be able to help you out.

Frank Gogol

I’m a firm believer that information is the key to financial freedom. On the Stilt Blog, I write about the complex topics — like finance, immigration, and technology — to help immigrants make the most of their lives in the U.S. Our content and brand have been featured in Forbes, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, and more.

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