Diaspora (Commonwealth Union) _ The White House Commission for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Affairs has recommended issuing an employment authorization card and necessary travel documents at the preliminary stage of the Green Card application processing system. This proposal, if approved by President Joe Biden, could provide significant relief to thousands of foreign professionals, particularly many Indian-Americans, facing long wait periods for Green Cards.
The Green Card application process involves multiple stages, starting with employers filing I-140 applications, followed by the adjustment of status (I-485). At this stage, applicants typically receive their Employment Authorization Card (EAD) and travel documents (Advance Parole), allowing them to work for any employer while their Green Card application is processed.
The recommendation suggests that the Department of Homeland Security’s US Citizenship and Immigration Services (DHS USCIS) grant EADs and travel documents to individuals with approved I-140 employment-based visa petitions in the EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3 categories, who have been waiting in the visa backlog for five or more years. Under this proposal, the validity of these documents would be extended until the final stage of the individuals’ Green Card application is fully processed. This extension aims to alleviate the impact of the backlog on affected applicants by ensuring the continuous validity of their documentation throughout the extended processing period.
The proposal is designed to tackle a substantial backlog of more than 1.8 million Green Card applications, predominantly impacting individuals from Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) countries. This includes nations like China, the Philippines, and India. The effort is aimed at addressing the delays and challenges in the Green Card process, providing relief to those waiting for permanent residency in the United States, particularly from AAPI communities. The prolonged waiting period for Green Cards has been a longstanding concern for foreign professionals, and this recommendation seeks to alleviate the challenges they face in the immigration process.
