The issuance of permanent residences in the US returned to pre-pandemic numbers

In another sign that the pandemic is beginning to lag behind, at least in terms of activity, the number of immigrants who already have permanent residence in the United States increased considerably in the quarter from July to September 2021, to the point that green card issuance figures similar to those of the years were reached prior to the pandemic.

The quarter between July and September 2021 is the last of the fiscal year ended, and is the last period for which official information is available from the government immigration statistics agency. Based on these data, the Pew Research Institute conducted a study in which it determined that in that quarter about 282,000 people received permanent residence cards in the United States. This is the highest figure from the quarter of April to July 2017.

After 2017, with Donald Trump's arrival in the White House, the number of permanent residences delivered in the country slowed down, although it wasn't anything noticeable until the onset of the pandemic. By mid-2020, with the closure of embassies, travel restrictions and little activity in government offices, there was a record low number of 79,000 green cards issued per quarter. It should be noted that at that time land crossings between Canada and the United States, as well as land crossings between Mexico and the United States, were completely closed. And air access to the country was limited.

But in addition, for migrants who were already in the process of permanent residence in the country, the situation became complicated. If they were expecting the famous green card in their home countries, most American consulates were working only with emergencies. And if they were awaiting residency within the United States, the process took more than two years. Now, little by little, the processes begin to regularize and that is partly why the number of issues increased, since the vast majority of those 282,000 green cards issued are from people who filed their cases years ago, and not necessarily new cases.

Between April and June 2020, there were 19,000 cases of newcomers to the United States who received residences. In the quarter from June to September 2021, this same type of cases increased to 105 thousand people. Comparing these two quarters, as for those waiting for residence while in the United States, at the beginning of the pandemic only 60,000 green cards were issued, while in the last quarter of last fiscal year there were 177,000 green cards.

Pew also indicated that the number of visa issues for entrepreneurs, investors, students, professional workers, and other types of temporary visas increased. However, these visas have not yet reached the figures that were seen prior to the pandemic.

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