This article was prepared with the assistance of ABIL, the Alliance of Business Immigration Lawyers, of which Loan Huynh, Fredrikson Immigration Department Chair, is a member.
A group of 125 Indian and Chinese immigrants approved for employment-based green cards sued U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in federal court in Maryland on August 3, 2021. In Chakrabarti v. USCIS, they argue that delayed processing is risking the potential loss of up to 100,000 “rollover” green cards from the unused family preferences to the employment preferences. Family-based green cards went unused due to closures at U.S. consulates because of the COVID-19 pandemic and former President Trump’s ban on the issuance of immigrant visas in April 2020. Any green cards that are not given by September 30, 2021, will be wasted. Plaintiffs ask the court to compel USCIS to adjudicate their adjustment applications by the end of this fiscal year, September 30, 2021, or reserve the visa numbers through the next fiscal year.
