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While more number of Indian companies and organisations are now applying for green cards, the number of green cards sanctioned to Indians in 2012 surged multiple times, compared to past years.
According to a recent New York Times article based on the data sourced from US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the number of Indians given green cards in 2012 stood at 35,472, a jump of almost six times over the previous year. Almost half of the total green cards issued in the US in 2012 were given to Indians. In 2010, just 4,607 green cards were issued to Indians.
Industry experts say while the US authorities may have granted Indians the unused quota meant for other countries, which they usually do, Indian companies, especially information technology (IT) firms, are now becoming extra cautious to meet the local hiring criteria by employing green card holders.
It is primarily because, under the new immigration reforms Bill, green card holders are considered at par with local American citizens. IT companies are also using green card as an effective tool to retain the employees.
“As per the new immigration Bill, you have to get more local employees. But one of the exemptions is green card, because green card-holders won’t be counted as visa-dependant employees. So, we are seeing some companies are applying for more green cards because they will be counted as local employees,” said one of the top executives of an Indian IT services company.
“Secondly, some of the companies are also using green card as a retention mechanism. The moment you apply for green card, people stay longer with the company,” he added. According to industry estimates, majority of the green cards being issued to Indians goes to people from the IT sector.
The comprehensive immigration Bill, mooted by the US Senate, requires employers having more than 50 per cent of their employees on H-1B or L-1 visas, to pay a $10,000 fee per additional worker.
“With the new immigration Bill, IT companies will now apply for more green cards if they are not able to hire locally,” said another industry source.
A green card evidences an immigrant visa, which gives the holder a right to stay in the US in lawful permanent resident (LPR) status. After having resided in the US as an LPR for five years, most of them can apply for citizenship. According to the US immigration policy, no individual can apply for green cards since only companies and organisations will have to sponsor those.
“The maximum number of green cards a country can get in a year cannot exceed seven per cent of the total of 140,000 visas. The limit affects among others given the large number of applicants from here (India). However, many of the remaining visas applicable for the rest of the world remain unused and these may be allotted to other countries. It appears that this is what happened in 2012,” said Poorvi Chothani, an immigration attorney and managing partner of LawQuest, a Mumbai-headquartered law firm.
According to industry experts, while the green cards cost almost double the amount that one spends on other forms on non-immigrant visas like H-1B or L-1, it is a one-time investment with no obligation of renewing it in every three or four years. This saves from the additional renewal costs.
An employment-based immigrant visa in EB-2 or EB-3 may cost anything between $8,000 to $12,000 including legal fees. An H-1B petition, which allows an individual to work for an initial period of three years, could cost anything between $3,500 to $4,500, including legal fees (without premium processing). Similarly, an L-1 visa, which generally allows an individual to work for an initial period of three years, costs anything between $4,900 to 6,000 (without premium processing) including legal fees, says Ms Chothani of LawQuest.
Among all the nations, India is considered a highly visa-dependant nation primarily because of the IT outsourcing services industry that requires sending employees from India to clients’ locations in the US.
GREEN SIGNAL
- According to the immigration reforms Bill proposed by the US Senate, if an employer has more than half of their employees on H-1B or L-1 visas, they are required to pay a fee of $10,000 an additional worker
- Green-card holders will be considered on par with US citizens according to the Bill
- Green card is a one-time investment and involves no renewal cost
- Companies that sponsor green cards use it as a retention tool
