At least this is better than the google nonsense
Legal Immigration Backlog: Endless and Frustrating Wait
Average Waits for Employment-Based Immigration - 5 Years; Family-based as long as 12 Years; Senate Reform Bill that Stipulates 6 year Maximum Wait for Family-based Immigration Gets Attention
[Yan Tai – New York] The Senate debate on immigration reform legislation is close to an end. Legal immigrants who have been pushing through the acceleration of green card process hope to see major reforms for the application of both employment-based and family-based immigration in this week’s bill. Among the various articles, the one that stipulates a maximum wait of six years for family-based immigration gets the most attention.
The May 22nd release of a recent study “Legal Immigrants: Waiting Forever” by Washington DC research institute National Foundation for American Policy shows that the average waits for employer-sponsored immigration have been five years and family-sponsored were as long as twelve years due to quota constraints. The report suggests that congress should solve this problem through an increase of immigration quota.
Traci Hong, Director of Immigration Program at Asian American Justice Center commented in the press conference that even though the long wait for legal immigration status has long been the focus of concerns among the Asian immigrant communities, it has never drawn much attention from the congress and mainstream media. They never understood the hardship of legal immigrants going through these endless waits.
She said that clauses on legal immigration backlog reduction have been included since the McCain-Kennedy bill until the current version of the Senate immigration reform bill. She noted that the Senate will discuss this matter sometime this week. She also estimated that the bill will reduce wait times for family-based immigration to less than six years, if approved. This article will be very important for the Asian communities.
Employment-based immigrants from countries such as mainland China and India have also warned Senate about the backlog issues. Senator John Cornyn (Republican, Texas) noted that the difficulties that legal immigrants experience in their wait for status have inflicted families and business and will eventually harm the US economy. He has initiated an amendment for Senate discussion that will exempt special technical personnel from the green card quota limit.
Mr. Aman Kappor, founder of ImmigrationVoice.org, a website that represents individuals from India and China with advanced degrees commented that the endless and frustrating wait for employment-sponsored immigration visas have put many people in a limbo. The nearly 4,000 members of the organization are actively lobbying congress to come up with a solution. Cornyn and Texas Senator Sam Brownback have both put forward amendments through efforts of Immigration Voice.
Zhen Zhang, a software engineer in Maryland who assisted with the effort told the reporter that since his stay in the US in 1998, he has not even been able to obtain the LCA approval. He believes that congress did not pay much attention to legal immigrants because they have not made themselves heard. He hopes to work along with more and more employment-based immigrants to force the reduction of the prolonged backlog through congress.