Indians to Benefit from New Green Card Application Process

A White House panel has recommended issuing employment authorization cards (EADs) and other necessary travel documents at the preliminary stage of the Green Card application processing system.

The new proposal, if implemented, will benefit over 8 million applicants, mostly Indians. It would include applicants who have been in the backlog for over 5 years and had submitted their application in 2018.

The White House Commission for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Affairs approved this recommendation on Thursday. The proposal now needs to be approved by US President Joe Biden and it is being speculated that implementation may take over 18 months.

Under the current system, foreign professionals who have been granted an I-140 petition, which is the first step in the green card process, must wait for their priority date to become current before they can file for adjustment of status and receive an EAD and travel documents. This can take many years, especially for those from countries with high visa demand, such as India.

The new proposal would allow foreign professionals with approved I-140 petitions to apply for EADs and travel documents regardless of their priority date. This would give them the ability to work and travel while they wait for their green cards to be processed.

Indian American community leader Ajay Jain Bhutoria, who is a member of the White House AANHPI Commission, has welcomed the proposal. He said that it would offer a number of benefits to Indian professionals.