Republican Senator Pushes To End 70-Year Green Card Wait For Indians

India-West News Desk

WASHINGTON, D.C.–Republican Senator Roger Marshall has called for ending country-based Green Card caps, saying the decades-long wait for permanent residency faced by many Indians is unfair.

Speaking at a Capitol Hill event organized by the Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies, Marshall said legal immigrants should not have to wait decades for permanent residency simply because of their country of birth.

“We are telling the world’s hardest-working immigrants that the line is 70 years long. Not because of what you did but because too many of you came from the same place,” he told a gathering of Indian-Americans.

Marshall described the per-country Green Card cap as “one of the great injustices” in the US immigration system and said he would continue to pursue the issue “legally and sensibly.”

Highlighting the importance of India-US ties, he said stronger cooperation benefits both nations.

“Both countries win when this relationship works. American farmers win, Indian consumers win and the strategic balance of the 21st century tilts towards democracy and away from authoritarianism,” Marshall said.

Marshall also praised the contribution of Indian-Americans, noting that although they make up about 1.5 per cent of the US population, they contribute an estimated 5-6 per cent of all federal income taxes.

“Every time someone in Washington questions whether legal immigration works, you’re the answer. You’re not the argument, you’re the answer,” he said.

Under current US immigration rules, no country can receive more than seven per cent of the family-sponsored and employment-based Green Cards issued each year. As demand from India far exceeds that limit, many applicants face years-long waits for permanent residency. The often-cited 70-year wait is a projection based on the existing cap remaining unchanged, though actual waiting times vary by category.

Separately, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in May that all employment-based EB-2 Green Cards for Indian applicants for fiscal year 2026 had been exhausted, with new visas becoming available on October 1. The DHS has also proposed sharply increasing US citizenship application fees while removing reduced-fee options and waivers for some lower-income applicants. The proposal is currently under review.