US President Donald Trump has proposed and pitched for a revolutionary Green Card approval mechanism, which focusses on skills, age and qualification, rather than family ties. This can drastically boost chances for Indians, who are skilled
and wish to relocate to the US for job or business.
and wish to relocate to the US for job or business.
However, it can prove disastrous for 3.5 lakh Indians are still waiting to get their green card processed.
President Trump Pitches For Build America Visa Program
US President Donald Trump has proposed a new visa system, called Build America, which will replace the current green card visa process.
If approved, this new visa program will increase the share of merit-based and points based visa from the current 12% to a whopping 57%.
In layman terms, this means that applicants who score more points in terms of education, skills, age and experience of a job will get more leverage than those who are applying for a visa based on family ties and diversity.
A lot of Indians can get the benefit due to this new Build America visa program if its get approved in the US.
While addressing this major immigration change in the White House, President Trump said, “We cherish the open door that we want to create for our country, but a big proportion of those immigrants must come in through merit and skill.”
Current Green Card System: Family Ties, Diversity More Important Than Skills
The US issues 1.1 million green cards every year to foreign nationals, which gives them lifetime permission to live and work in the US. And after 5 years of getting the green card, the person can apply for citizenship which makes them part of the country.
Out of this 1.1 million green cards issued, 66% goes to the relatives of existing green card holders and foreign nationals, who have become US citizens.
21% goes to asylum seekers, who are randomly picked via lottery, and only 12% goes to the applicants, who are seeking visa via employment.
Hence, family ties and diversity of the applicant is currently more important than skills and experience of the applicant.
While pitching for the new visa regime based on skills, President Trump opposed this ‘random’ nature of green card allocation, based on family ties.
He said, “Instead of admitting people through random chance, we will establish simple, universal criteria for admission to the United States. No matter where in the world you’re born, no matter who your relatives are, if you want to become an American citizen, it will be clear exactly what standard we ask you to achieve. It will be made crystal clear,”
