Bill that could address green card backlog for Indians in US blocked by Senate

In what could come as a blow to over 3 lakh Indians waiting to get their Green Card, The Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019 or the S386 bill has been blocked in the Senate again. First proposed in 2019, the bill aims to equalise the green card backlog by removing the cap that is placed on each country. The annual green card quota for India and most countries is about 26,000.

Due to the cap, the current wait time for Indians to obtain a green card is estimated at 195 years.

The bill was cleared by the US House of Representatives earlier this year and proposes to increase the cap of 7% per country to 15%.

On Thursday, Senator Rick Scott of Florida opposed the bill, first proposed in 2019, saying he wanted a carve out for Spanish speaking people as well.

Earlier, Senator Dick Durbin had opposed some provisions of the bill in December. However, Senator Mike Lee, who has been supporting the bill, and Durbin came to an agreement after proposing some changes to the bill.

This includes allowing green card applicants to travel and even switch jobs while waiting for their green cards without losing their status. It also protects children from ageing out when they turn 21.

Changes to the bill also included changes to the H-1B visa program where if a company has over 50 employees and 50% of those employees are temporary workers, then they wouldn’t be able to apply for more H-1B visas.

In a debate on the Senate floor on Thursday, Durbin argued that increasing the existing cap of 140,000 is the best available solution.

With the bill being blocked again, reports suggest that it is uncertain when it would come up for discussion again, or if it will even be passed with presidential elections coming up.

Last month, Lee said that the wait time for green cards for Indians professionals stuck in the "awful, hellish green card backlog" could go up from the current 195 years to 450 years in ten years without a comprehensive reform of the immigration system.

EB2 green cards are for those with advanced degrees and EB3 for skilled and professional workers.

Over the past month, Indians in the US held several protests demanding that the huge backlog of green cards be addressed. Protests were held in Chicago, Michigan, Nebraska, among others.