U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) was sued by a group of Indian nationals in the hopes of forcing the federal government to review green card petitions filed nearly 10 years ago. The last interview was completed in 2019. As such, the plaintiffs claim there has been an unreasonable period of time to complete the adjustment of status application.

On plaintiff’s employer filed the I-140 petition in August 2010. Three other plaintiffs filed their adjustment of status in March 2012. USCIS originally completed the fingerprint and photograph process and completed the three interviews as the process requires for green card applicants in 2015, 2016, and 2019. USCIS has yet to address the filing since that time, per the plaintiffs. As a result, the group filed suit against USCIS on the grounds of unlawful delays under the Administrative Procedure Act and violating due process rights. In addition, the group claims USCIS did not complete their legal duty under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). The group state they have pursued all possible options to address their concerns, including phone contact and appointments that were scheduled online.

Approximately 83,000 employment-based green cards were unused at the end of the fiscal year 2021, primarily due to Covid. Several attempts to recapture these unused visas are in various stages of consideration. There are over one million foreign workers waiting to submit their adjustment of status. Due to the per-country cap, visa demand from some countries, including India and China, have particularly long waits. Each country is eligible for no more than 7% of the total employment-based visas allow per fiscal year, although demand from some countries is substantially higher, leading to the high backlog.

If you have questions about the timing of your immigration process, contact us at ILBSG. We continue to monitor ongoing legislation and put our expertise and experience to work for you.

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