Green card applications see the highest delays in the second quarter of 2025 as the process time reached 1,265 days or 3.4 years -- compared to 705 days (1.9 years) in 2016. The figures were revealed in a new report by think-tank Cato Institute. The analysis said this is an all-time high.
According to the Cato Institute's report, even applicants who pay a $2,805 "premium processing fee" wait almost two years on average before making it out of the "government's regulatory morass." These wait times are in addition to the time applicants must wait to secure a cap slot—based on the numerical limits the government sets on green cards by country and category—as well as the months of prefiling that must be done before applications can begin, Newsweek reported.
The analysis broke down how each stage of getting a green card has become more time-consuming between 2016 and 2025. For example, wage determination used to take 2.5 months in 2016 but now it takes 6.1 months.
"With a process this long, it is no surprise that well over 90 percent of employer-sponsored immigrants going through the labor certification process must already be in the United States to obtain employer sponsorship. These delays create a de facto requirement for employees to use an H1B or other temporary work visa before accessing a green card," the Cato report noted.
"America will lose the global talent competition when other countries grant green cards in a matter of a few weeks or months, not years. It is time for the US government to radically streamline its legal immigration system and eliminate unnecessary, burdensome procedures," it said.
The report noted that some of the steps of the green card process is wholly unnecessary. "Employees with a green card can negotiate fairly for wages since they can leave to find another employer. There is no reason to require US worker recruitment since immigrant workers create an equivalent demand for US workers elsewhere in the economy. Employers can judge a worker’s qualifications better than a government entity. Requiring health screenings and background checks of workers who have been screened abroad and have lived in the United States for years is just as absurd," it said.
According to the Cato Institute's report, even applicants who pay a $2,805 "premium processing fee" wait almost two years on average before making it out of the "government's regulatory morass." These wait times are in addition to the time applicants must wait to secure a cap slot—based on the numerical limits the government sets on green cards by country and category—as well as the months of prefiling that must be done before applications can begin, Newsweek reported.
The analysis broke down how each stage of getting a green card has become more time-consuming between 2016 and 2025. For example, wage determination used to take 2.5 months in 2016 but now it takes 6.1 months.
"With a process this long, it is no surprise that well over 90 percent of employer-sponsored immigrants going through the labor certification process must already be in the United States to obtain employer sponsorship. These delays create a de facto requirement for employees to use an H1B or other temporary work visa before accessing a green card," the Cato report noted.
"America will lose the global talent competition when other countries grant green cards in a matter of a few weeks or months, not years. It is time for the US government to radically streamline its legal immigration system and eliminate unnecessary, burdensome procedures," it said.
The report noted that some of the steps of the green card process is wholly unnecessary. "Employees with a green card can negotiate fairly for wages since they can leave to find another employer. There is no reason to require US worker recruitment since immigrant workers create an equivalent demand for US workers elsewhere in the economy. Employers can judge a worker’s qualifications better than a government entity. Requiring health screenings and background checks of workers who have been screened abroad and have lived in the United States for years is just as absurd," it said.
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