Green Card: Lifetime Wait for Green Card: NRIs Wait 80-100 Years | India News

HYDERABAD: There seems to be no respite in sight from the long wait for a Green Card for Indians living in the US. Even as the official website of the US Bureau of Consular Affairs maintains that the process takes no more than 24 months, NRIs that TOI spoke to said the wait time reflecting on their applications stretches anywhere from 40 years to 100 years!

And this despite them living on American soil for decades and meeting all necessary criteria, including holding an eligible visa and not having any criminal record.
“I applied for my Green Card in 2005. My current waiting time is 81 years. I’m already 53,” said a New Jersey-based resident who moved to the US from Secunderabad in 1996.
“Every time I contact the department of immigration and citizenship, they cite the large number of applications, not just from India, but from across the globe, as the reason for the long wait,” he added. The finance professional fears that even his children, born in India, might not be able to secure a Green Card in their lifetime.
But this isn’t an isolated case. A report by the Cato Institute, a think tank, stated that in 2024 alone 34.7 million applications were filed with the authorities of which only 3% are expected to secure permanent residency this fiscal.
The annual cap for successful applications is set at 1.1 million for this year.
Suren K, a tech professional living in Dallas, Texas, who often shares information about US immigration on social media, recently took to X to talk about this.
Responding to a video posted by the US Ambassador Eric Garcetti inviting students to an education fair, Suren tweeted, “Please don’t come to #USA. These are lies. Don’t believe me? Talk to anyone who came here to study in the last decade. Your dreams will be shattered. There is no future after your education is over. Your entire career will be chasing #H1B visas. Green Cards for Indian born have a wait time of ~100 years #greencardbacklog.”
Indians abroad added that this prolonged delay is especially frustrating given that India has emerged as the second-largest source of new US citizens, with 65,960 Indians obtaining citizenship in the fiscal year 2022, second only to Mexicans. However, the path to citizenship for many remains elusive.
“My waiting period is 62 years, and I’m almost 40. What use will a Green Card be when I’m dead? I meet all the criteria—eligible visa, no criminal record, over three years of stay—but I’ve been waiting for 10 years while working for a big tech company. Why invite so many immigrants if they can’t accommodate them?” said another applicant, a project manager from California. He moved to the US from Nagpur in 2010.