(José Niño, Headline USA) Indian green card applicants are set to catch a break this October. The U.S. government is updating its system so people from India waiting for permanent residency can move ahead much sooner than usual, according to a report by The Hindustan Times.
Thanks to the October visa bulletin recently released by the U.S. Department of State, the application process for both family and work-based green cards will be streamlined, and thousands of Indian families and professionals now have a better chance of getting their approvals started faster.
The Visa Bulletin is a monthly publication issued by the U.S. State Department that serves as a crucial scheduling and availability guide for immigrants seeking green cards (permanent residence) in the United States. It functions as an official “waiting list” document that determines when applicants can advance to the final stages of their immigration process.
The biggest boost is for investors: the EB-5 green card category for India just jumped forward by nearly 15 months. According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the EB-5 immigrant investor program grants green cards to qualifying investors.
For India, the Final Action Date has advanced to Feb. 1, 2021, from November Nov. 15, 2018, as The Hindustan Times reported.
That means those who applied toward may finally move to the next step much sooner. Other work-based categories also show smaller but still helpful progress.
There’s good news for Indian families as well. The F2A category, which is for spouses and kids of permanent residents, moved up by 17 months from Sept. 1, 2022 to Feb. 1, 2024.. This means applicants who filed before that cut-off can now expect their green cards to move along in a more expedited manner per The Hindustan Times report.
Each year there are limits to how many visas can be granted—226,000 for families and at least 140,000 for employment-based categories. As the State Department noted, here’s also a cap for each country to keep things balanced, so no country takes up too many spots.
“The fiscal year 2026 limit for family-sponsored preference immigrants determined in accordance with Section 201 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) is 226,000. The worldwide level for annual employment-based preference immigrants is at least 140,000. Section 202 prescribes that the per-country limit for preference immigrants is set at 7% of the total annual family-sponsored and employment-based preference limits, i.e., 25,620. The dependent area limit is set at 2%, or 7,320,” the State Department’s visa bulletin highlighted.
Everyone in a family or worker’s group gets the same consideration, and the process is based on when each person originally applied.
The green card system divides applications among different categories, such as top professionals, people with advanced degrees, skilled and unskilled workers, special immigrants, and investors. The investor group also sets aside green cards for people investing in rural areas, places with high unemployment, or infrastructure.
This October’s changes offer increased hope to Indian families and applicants who have waited for years for their green card applications to be fully processed. The government’s new policy should mean shorter wait times and an increased chance of obtaining U.S. residency for many Indian nationals.
