Over one lakh Indian children in the United States are at risk of being separated from their parents due to a backlog in the process of granting Green Cards.
More than 10.7 lakh Indians are in queue for employment-based Green Cards, which offer legal permanent residency in the United States.
Considering the huge pendency of cases and the 7 per cent cap on each country, the process is likely to take more than 135 years to be completed at the current numbers.
By the time the Green Card applications get processed, as many as 1.34 lakh Indian children, who are under the H-4 visa, will age out, a recent study by David J Bier, an immigration studies expert at the Cato Institute, stated. This will lead to forced separation from their parents.
The Cato Institute is a Washington, DC-based libertarian think tank.
Even when dropping-out factors, like death and aging out, are considered, the wait time is nothing less than 54 years.
AGING OUT LEADS TO SEPARATION FROM PARENTS
Children who move to the US from other countries stay there under the H-4 visa, which is a nonimmigrant visa for the spouses and children of H-1B visa holders. H1B visas are temporary work visas for highly skilled workers.
However, when the children turn 21, they are no longer allowed to stay in the United States under the H-4 visa category.
These children, who are sometimes referred to as “documented dreamers”, then have two options.
The first is to secure an F-1 or a student visa. This visa allows them to study in the US, but they are not allowed to work without obtaining an Employment Authorisation Document (EAD).
The EAD application process can be lengthy and expensive. There is no guarantee that these children will be able to obtain an F-1 visa, as only a limited number of children manage to get it.
The second is to self-deport to their home country. This can be a difficult and emotional decision, especially for children who came to the US as kids and have grown up there with little or no connection with their family in India.
UNCERTAINITY AMONG INDIAN FAMILIES IN US
This age limit of H-4 visas and the decades-long pendency in the Green Card process has become a major source of uncertainty and anxiety for many Indian families settled in the US.
The Biden administration has proposed a rule that would allow certain H-4 visa holders who turn 21 to remain in the United States and work, but it is unclear if and when this rule will be implemented. Biden had also promised to change the 7 per cent country cap for Green Cards
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