US Granted 5.46 Million Work Permits To Foreigners From 2009 To 2014

09 Feb 2015

The US has hit the headlines yet another time for all good reasons. According to the conservative think-tank, the government of US has granted 5.46 million work permits to non-immigrant overseas nationals from 2009 to 2014.

In line with the Center for Immigration Studies, the figures were over and beyond the count of new green card and short-term worker admissions in those years.

In accordance with a statement granted by the Center's director, Jessica Vaughan, the statistics was received from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) by means of a Freedom of Information Act request.

In the list generated by the Center, work permits are issued to pre-permanent or permanent categories, which include fiancées, permanent residents and others. And under temporary categories, overseas temporary employees, journalists and visitors are included.

The Center stated that under the Visa Waiver Program, around 1.8 million new work permits were granted to overseas nationals holding short-term visas.

Among these, 1.2 million (67%) had a visa status without any approved employment, Jessica Vaughan said. She also said that over 470,000 work permits were granted to foreigners on tourist visas and 532,000 were granted to overseas students. Over 156,000 were granted to dependents or eligible family members of students and guest workers with no approved employment by law.

She added that 963,000 new work permits were granted to overseas nationals under PR status or has status that may lead green card mainly comprising fiancés of U.S. citizens (164,000) and others.

A Senate staffer said that during the period of 2009-2014, Congress has approved an estimated 5 million green cards as well as 3.5 million guest worker permits, additionally 5.5 million granted by administration action.

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