Employment-based immigration system, backlogged

On Behalf of | Sep 7, 2021 | U.s. Immigration Law |

There are hundreds of thousands (or more) people waiting to come to Florida and other locations in the United States to work. Every year, the federal government issues 140,000 green cards through the employment-based immigration system. Green card holders are granted U.S. permanent residency, meaning they have permission to live and work in this country on a permanent basis.

A group of lawmakers recently issued a letter to the federal government, stating an urgent need for reform of a system that is severely backlogged. Due to a 7% cap per country to obtain lottery green cards, the current system leaves hundreds of thousands of people waiting as long as a decade or more to receive employment-based residency status. At this time, there are approximately 800,000 people from India, for instance, who are in line to obtain green cards for work in the United States.

The 2020 backlog exceeded 1 million people

As of last year, there were approximately 1.2 million people stuck in the backlogged application process to travel to the United States under permanent residency status for employment-based reasons. In their letter to the federal government, the lawmakers emphasized a need to create a pathway to lawful residence for these workers, their spouses and their minor children. While the process to obtain an employment-based green card may be long and arduous, it is never a good idea to risk falling victim to a scam by paying someone money who has claimed to have the ability to expedite an application.

What to do if legal complications arise

The good news for Florida immigrants and others is that no one has to try to handle legal complications on their own. If an application is called into question or some other problem arises regarding U.S. permanent residency, a person may request a meeting with an experienced U.S. immigration law attorney. Such an attorney is well-versed in all aspects of green card application and other immigration issues and can review a specific case to recommend a best course of action.

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