Over 100,000 Indian children in the US risk separation from parents due to green card backlog
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Washington: A backlog in the Green Card application process has put over 100,000 Indian children in the United States at risk of being separated from their parents when they turn 21, the maximum age covered by the H-4 visa category.
This backlog is primarily due to the extended processing times for employment-based Green Cards, which grant legal permanent residency in the US.
Currently, more than 1.07 million Indians are in line for employment-based Green Cards, and given the 7% cap on Green Cards for each country, it's estimated that the process will take over 135 years to complete at the current rate.
Under the H-4 visa system, individuals up to the age of 21 are permitted to stay in the US. However, due to the lengthy Green Card processing times, as many as 134,000 Indian children, currently under the H-4 visa, will age out by the time their parents' Green Card applications are processed, leading to their forced separation from their parents.
The situation has created significant uncertainty and anxiety among Indian families in the US.
While the Biden administration has proposed a rule that would allow certain H-4 visa holders who turn 21 to remain in the US and work, it remains unclear when or if this rule will be implemented. President Biden had promised to address the 7% country cap for Green Cards, but no specific action has been taken yet.
H-4 visa is a nonimmigrant visa for the spouses and children of H-1B visa holders. H1B visas are temporary work visas for highly skilled workers. People above the age of 21 are not allowed to stay in the US under the H-4 visa category. They have the option to either secure an F-1 student visa or self-deport to their home country.
The F-1 visa allows them to study in the US but not work without obtaining an Employment Authorisation Document (EAD). The EAD application process is long and expensive.
Self-deporting is a life-altering move because most of them consider the US their home and grew up there. They have little or no connection to India and their relatives in India.
Even after taking out factors like death and aging out, the wait time for processing the pending applications is 54 years.