Dear (Congressman/Senator) (Last name):
I am an immigrant visa (green card) applicant living in New York’s nth
Congressional District, who has been approved in the employment-based second
preference category (EB-2). I am writing to bring to your attention that
the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) misallocated
visa numbers to this category in FY17, which has adversely affected me and
thousands of other petitioners.
This malfeasance has likely added 1+ year to the already-long 5 year backlog
. According to DOS’s FY17 Annual Report, the total number of green cards
issued to China-born EB2 was ~400 fewer than the numerical quota (2800) as
established in the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 (INA) and the
Immigration Act of 1990.
I find this to be highly unfair, at a time when the American public opinion
overwhelmingly supports skilled immigrants to come to fulfill their American
dream in this great nation. Yet the agency violated the first-come, first-
served principle of INA, and misallocated green cards due China-born
applicants.
Similar problems have occurred before, in FY08 and FY09, when the agency
allocated altogether 2300 fewer visa numbers to China-born EB-3 applicants.
In the ensuing lawsuit Zixiang Li et al. vs. John F. Kerry et al., Circuit
Judge Reinhardt on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
condemned the agency’s unfair practice:
“Instead, the government erroneously gave these visas to individuals from
other countries, many of whom had been waiting far less time for the same
type of visa than their Chinese counterparts … Plaintiffs, and thousands of
others like them, were prejudiced as a result, in that they were required
to wait far longer for their visas than other individuals who applied at the
same time.”
I urge you to inquire into this situation and support legislation
strengthening oversight in green card allocation.
Thank you for your consideration. I will be gladly available for answering
your questions.
Sincerely,
YOUR NAME
Street address
City, State, Zip code