Indian immigrant wait time for green card now averages 179 years

The backlog for issuing green cards has now hit 1.2 million as restrictions from the Trump administration have made it so that there can only be 140,000 green cards issued each year. Only 7 percent of that figure can go to any one country.

As a result, people from larger countries with more people applying will face longer wait times before they can get permanent residency. According to an analysis from the National Foundation for American Policy, those who are Indian are estimated to have to wait 179 years to obtain a green card. For Chinese nationals seeking the same category of green card, EB-2, the wait is around 25 years.

However, for smaller countries like the Philippines, the wait time is just a few months. For EB-1 green cards, which are made for those with "extraordinary ability," the time to wait is around four to five years for Indian nationals and five years for Chinese applicants.

Stuart Anderson, the executive director of the National Foundation for American Policy, told the San Francisco Chronicle: “Many Americans don’t realize how challenging it can be to immigrate legally to the United States, even for the most highly skilled and innovative people in the country. These are people who want to become Americans and are willing to wait years for the chance.”

Most applicants for the work-based green cards are attempting to transition away from using H-1B work visas, which are used heavily in the tech industry.

H-1B visas have also seen a crackdown under the Trump administration. Kevin Lynn, who is the executive director of the Institute for Sound Policy, a think tank that aligns with "America First" policies, said that he is opposed to the H-1B visa system.

"These employment visa programs that have led to this logjam have negatively impacted American innovation and inventiveness. … If you don’t want to be in that backlog, don’t come to the United States, don’t participate. That’s a choice someone makes," he said.