Fix Our Broken Legal Immigration System

The State Department has released a report showing the increasing number of people with approved immigrant visa petitions at the National Visa Center who are waiting for their visa numbers to be current.

The number is about three and one-half million.  Given that our immigration laws permit only  376,000 people to immigrate to the U.S. each year under the family-based and employment-based preference systems, the average wait is over ten years long.  There are probably     another million people residing in the U.S. with approved visa petitions.  They are waiting to adjust their status and their numbers are not reflected in the State Department report.

Over 95% of the people on the waiting list are in the family-sponsored categories and more than half of these are in the brother-sister fourth preference category.  Over 100,000 people from each of the following countries are waiting in the FB-4 line: Mexico, Philippines, China, India and Vietnam. Yet, the worldwide quota is only 65,000 per year.  Since the backlogs average between 10 and 22 years, more children are born abroad each year to the beneficiaries of these visa petitions which further increases the backlogs.

In the EB-3 category for professional and skilled workers, the countries with the largest backlogs are the Philippines (45,331 - Mostly nurses and their families?) and India (20,467 - Mostly computer professionals and their families?).  Should U.S. employers have to wait over seven years to immigrate a foreign-born employee?

I am all for comprehensive immigration reform.  However, this may prove politically impossible in an election year.  First Congress needs to reform a broken legal immigration system which punishes people who play by the rules. 

 

Comments

[Africa Cunanan]

The broken US Immigration system needs to be fixed. We immigrated to the US under a family based 4th preference status and because of the long wait of 21 years our eldest son, who at the time the peition was approved was only 3 years old and by the time we were processed for our visas he already aged out. A new petition has been filed for him under the F2B pref. category and he's been in line for more than 11 years now. Can you just imagine the pain and agony of a mother separated from her eldest son, and to make matter worst this son has to remain single until his priority date becomes current. My son has waited more than 20 years from our original petition and he's in line again to get a visa under his new petition F2B. I can understand people who opted to come here illegally just so they can be reunited with their loved ones. It's sad theat the US immigration is broken.

[Lyna]

Ms. Cunanan you might want to look at the law on age-out derivatives in order to bring your son faster to the US. Consult Atty. Shusterman. Just a suggestion. Good luck.

[paulina]

Hi, I'm illegal immigrant in US,living in Westchester NY in Shrub oak, don't have a drive license bud driving to my work everyday, I'm babysitting in Chappaqua on 1 Kittle rd.

[continuing education for nursing]

I hope and pray that what ever sickness dusty is going through may God give him health and recovery from his sickness.