By Lalit K JhaWashington, Oct 23 (PTI) A group of more than 100 IndianIT professionals on H-1B visas today knocked on the doors ofUS lawmakers to get the country-specific quotas for permanentresidency removed, saying the limitation resulted in massivegreen card backlogs for them.
Every year, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services(USCIS) receives about 100,000 green card applications fromhighly-skilled Indian applicants.
However, less than 10,000 Indians receive the green card,which is a step closer to citizenship. This number keeps onincreasing every year.
"We are all are stuck in this 70 years backlog. Most ofus came to this country about 10 years ago," said Houston-based Harshit Chatur, a key volunteer of the recently formed'Skilled Immigrants In America'.
Currently working for a utility company in Houston, theRice University graduate said he had filed his green cardapplication in 2012.
"Because I was born in India and due to this per countrylimit, I have to wait for 70 years, as per a lot of research,"Chatur said.
Established a few months ago by some Indian technologyprofessionals who have been agonising waiting for their greencard, 'Skilled Immigrants In America' now claims to have morethan 150,000 members and chapters in 25 states of the US.
"We are legally here, highly-paid, taxpaying and law-abiding. Were we born in some other country, we would havebeen (US) citizens by now. The amount of positivecontributions that we make to this country, (we) just want theCongress to see it and hopefully that will solve thisproblem," Anirban Ghosh, the president of the group, toldreporters outside the Capitol this morning.
More than 100 of these Indian techies and professionals,and some of them with their dependent kids, drove down andflew to Washington to meet top American lawmakers and theiraides.
This is an awareness drive to make the lawmaker aware ofour issues, they said, adding the long wait in some cases,could have devastating consequences for dependent kinds.
"We have a lot of kids who were born in India and thesituation for them would be worse," Chatur said. For instancePreeti Konduri, 16, moved to the US as a six-year-old alongwith her father some 10 years ago.
"When I turn 21 years old, I will be in college but Icannot depend on my dad's visa anymore. I will have totransfer to an F1 visa which makes me an international studenthere and I lose many opportunities," Preeti said, standingoutside the US Capitol.
Having lived most of her life in the US, Preeti said thatshe now faces an uncertain future because of the country-specific green card quota.
"We're basically asking that since the children have beenhere for decades now and grown up here, so they should begiven some relief," she said, adding children like her arecalled "H4 Dreamers".
"While we're being educated there was no differencebetween countries. So, when we go for further opportunitiesthis difference comes up and it stops you from pursuing yourdreams and goals. It's actually like careers like medicalyou're not presented with the same opportunities as thestudents next to you from different countries and it's justvery stressful," Preeti said.
"When we are given jobs based on our skills andexperience, why the green card application processing is donebased on your country of birth," Chatur said. PTI LKJKIS.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.