Republican Senator Roger Marshall has advocated for letting more Indians into the United States at a time when several of his party colleagues want to permanently suspend Indian entry on H-1B visas. Marshall said he does not support per-country caps on green cards, which would leave Indians waiting as long as 70 years for green cards in some cases. As the senator addressed Indian Americans, he expressed support for the community, saying: “We tell the hardest-working immigrants in the world that this line is 70 years old. Not because of anything you did, but because so many of you come from the same place.”waiting for one green cardU.S. permanent residency is a lengthy process for Indians as there is a cap on the number of people who can obtain green cards each year. No country receives more than 7% of the family-sponsored and employment-based green cards issued annually. With more applications from India than allocated last year, there is now a backlog of about ten years.Depending on the category, Indians who get their green cards this year (2026) will have to apply around 2013-14.Speaking at a Capitol Hill event organized by the India and Indian Diaspora Research Foundation, Marshall said the cap on green cards per country is one of the greatest injustices in the United States and he will continue to raise the issue legally and sensibly. When praising India, Marshall said: “When this relationship works, both countries benefit. American farmers benefit, Indian consumers benefit, and the strategic balance in the 21st century will tilt toward democracy and away from authoritarianism.”Indian Americans make up 1.5 percent of the U.S. population, but they pay 5 to 6 percent of all federal income taxes, Marshall said. “Whenever someone in Washington questions whether legal immigration works, you are the answer,” he said. “You’re not arguing, you’re the answer.”
Do Indians really have to wait 70 years to get a green card?
There are different types of green cards, and the waiting time for each type of green card is also different. But the 70-year wait is a well-known claim, based on projections of people entering the queue today, since caps in each country have neither been lifted nor increased, while application numbers are growing every year. But many have given up on lining up to return to India, freeing up space; some have changed their categories, and this reshuffling keeps changing wait times.
