USCIS approves 3% of green card petitions, study finds – Telemundo Washington DC (44)

A study confirms that the United States has reached a historic low in the approval rate for permanent residences (popularly known as “green cards”) for applicants to this important immigration process seeking the “American Dream.”

Report “Green Card Approval Rate Hits Record Low”The Cato Institute reported that USCIS will approve only 3% of applicants in fiscal year 2024.

“In a world where 97% of applicants are rejected, the vast majority of people around the world have no way to come to the United States legally,” the report says.

Currently, USCIS has more than 34 million pending applications for review.

According to the report, the problem lies in the government's annual cap of allowing only 1.1 million green cards in fiscal year 2024.

According to the report, “Before the caps were imposed in 1921, an average of 98% of immigrants were approved each year. After the caps, the average year was only 16%.”

“The solution would be for Congress to implement and expand the existing cap on applications through family and employment, otherwise there is no way to speed up these processes,” explained immigration attorney Catherine Canto.

For this reason, the report concludes with a recommendation for Congress: Expand those limits.

“With population and workforce growth near historic lows, Congress must seize the opportunity to improve the nation's long-term demographic prospects,” the report concludes.