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US bill suggests a fee for a green card for Indians and others

If a new House bill is voted into legislation, millions of foreigners who have been stalled in the US for years on the jobs-based Green Card waitlist can expect legal permanent resident status in America. A significant number of Indians are included in this list of foreigners. They will get the long-term residency by paying the extra charge.

If included in the unification agreement and signed into law, the proposal is intended to support thousands of Indian IT workers. Such workers are now stuck in a long Green Card application procedure.

The other name of a green card is a permanent-resistant card. This is a certificate issued to foreigners. The card is proof that they have been given the freedom to live legally in the United States.

The fee for the candidates having a priority date of more than 2 years

An employment-based immigrant candidate whose priority date is more than 2 years can adjust to a legal long-term residence. There will be no statistical restrictions to him/her. The one thing he/she will have to do is to pay a supplemental fee of $5,000. This is according to a committee print released by the US House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, which has jurisdiction over immigration.

The fee for the EB-5 group

For the EB-5 group, the fee is $50,000. (immigrant investors). According to Forbes magazine, the provisions will end in 2031.

The charges for family-based applicants sponsored by US citizens

The fee for obtaining a Green Card for a family-based applicant is USD 2,500.

The sponsor of the applicant will be a US citizen. Moreover,  the priority date must be greater than 2 years. 

The fee for the candidates not having a priority date of more than 2 years

According to the committee print, in the case, an applicant’s priority date is not within two years but they are required to be existing in the state, then he/she will have to pay the supplement price of $1,500. This cost is in extra to any operational service charges the applicant may have paid.

The proposal, meanwhile, does not include major structural reforms to the legal immigration system. Eliminating country restrictions is also included for green cards or expanding yearly H-1B visa allocations.

The regulations would have to clear the Judiciary Committee, the House of Representatives, and the Senate and be signed by the president before becoming law, according to the report.

According to a CBSNews report, if this proposal gets approval, this legally enable unauthorized people who arrived in the US to seek permanent US residency or green cards. 

Such people came to the US as kids, TPS beneficiaries, farm laborers, and other global epidemic vital workers. 

Raja Krishnamoorthi claim

Last month, US Congressmen, including Indian-American Raja Krishnamoorthi, encouraged their colleagues in Congress to join their push for an employment-based Green Card delay as part of the funding reconciliation procedure.

Raja Krishnamoorthi led a group of 40 US politicians in appealing to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. He claimed that the budget reconciliation agreement provides relief to those caught in the employment-based Green Card delay while also strengthening the economy.

US’s previously announced immigration changes have been not implemented yet. The news from the United States on Thursday 18 March, brought joy to the faces of millions of immigrants living in the United States without legal permission. The House passed 2 proposals that would legalize around eleven million immigrants living illegally in the US. These proposals would create a track to citizenship for the subset of those who are living in the US without legal permission. Read here for complete news about this theme.