The US Government is planning to shorten the period of issuance of visas and also extend the duration of work permits after receiving recommendations from the local bodies. It will benefit Indians. Every year, a large number of Indian nationals approach the US embassy or consulates for visas with the belief of easier employment in the US as compared to other countries.
The US government has made some amendments and simplifications in the laws related to H1B and Green Card, adding happiness to Indians. The government’s National Visa Center has recommended the consolidation of green card applications by making large-scale appointments. It has been recommended to hold 100% visa interviews every three months from August 2022. It was recommended to the government to reduce the processing period for issuance of green cards and H1B visas to 6 months.
The President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders released its inaugural report on Friday. The report was approved on May 12 and transmitted to the President on August 24 and the White House Domestic Policy Council is currently reviewing its recommendations before they can be sent to President Joe Biden for his decision.
The report states because of COVID-19-related closure and staffing limitations as well as the continued effect of the 2017 travel bans, processing green cards up to the annual cap has been difficult. It recommends that the Department of State’s National Visa Center (NVC) facility should hire additional officers to increase its capacity to process Green Card application interviews by 100% in three months from August 2022 and by increasing Green Card applications and visa interviews and adjudicate decisions by 150% by August 2023.
The committee said in the report that Green Card visa interviews and visa processing timelines should be limited to a targeted goal of six months. The commission recommends to reduce the agency’s pending family-based Green Card backlog, US Citizenship and Immigration Services should review their processes, systems, and policies and establish new internal cycle time goals by streamlining processes, removing redundant steps, if any, and automating any manual approvals.
The report states that out of the 226,000 green cars available only 65,452 family-based preference green cards were issued in FY 2021.
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the Department of State (DOS) shall continue to process the applications outside the six month goal and adjudicate decisions in a timely manner if there is a query or more information needed.
After the approval of the new recommendations by the US government, Indians will have more ease in getting visas and green cards.
With inputs from PTI
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