INS Delays Cause Decline of Green Card Approvals
Posted Sep 24, 1999

Believe it or not!! While lines for obtaining green cards are getting longer and the U.S. is suffering a desperate shortage of skilled workers particularly in the information technology field, fewer green cards have been processed by the INS this past fiscal year! The INS delays in processing the adjustment of status applications has resulted in this absurdity!

As mentioned before in a previous edition of the Immigration Law Bulletin of the Law Office of Sheela Murthy, the INS delays in processing the I-485 applications is one of the main reasons for the priority dates being announced by the U.S. Department of State as being current.

As some of you may know, the statutory quota allows for 140,000 persons to obtain employment-based green cards each fiscal year. Fewer green cards than in prior years were issued during the fiscal year 1998-99 (ending on September 30, 1999). Only about half that number, about 77,000, will have had their green card cases completed by the end of the fiscal year. Many thousands more remain in INS processing backlogs. INS has promised improvements in processing times for the coming years.

Once the INS starts processing more I-485 applications, we expect the priority dates to start retrogressing. So the INS delays are actually benefiting many of you who have been able to submit your I-485 applications within the last 2 months.