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My latest #CatoImmigration policy analysis published today is the first to detail how the *average* wait time for legal immigrants applying for green cards under the quotas has changed, finding that they doubled since the last update came into effect cato.org/publications/p…
For green card applicants *who got to apply*, time spent waiting for a green card to become available in the family-sponsored and employment-based categories doubled from an average of 2 years and 10 months in 1991—when the last update went into effect—to 5 years and 8 months 
And that’s just the average! The share of quota applicants applying who waited more than a decade increased from 3% to 28%--more than 100K immigrants—some more than 20 years. On the other extreme, 31% had no wait due to quotas in 1991, compared to just 2% in 2018
Breaking it down by birthplace, green card applicants in 2018 had the longest wait if they were born in India: 8 years and 6 months — nearly double the average wait of 4 years and 6 months for all nationalities not at the country limits.
Here is how the wait times have changed for the lines with the longest waits. Filipino siblings of U.S. citizens had the longest wait in 2018: 23 years for the chance to apply. Applicants whose sponsors petitioned for them in 1995 were just able to apply last year.
It will get much, much worse in the future b/c a huge backlog has developed. I project how long it will take to process the backlog, accounting for mortality. It will take up to 62 years to process and 675K legal immigrants *will die* without seeing their green cards
I make 4 recommendations to deal with these waits. 1) End the per-country limits. 2) Stop counting spouses & children against the quotas. 3) Link quotas to population & economic growth. 4) Establish a 5-year limit on wait times, granting a green card to anyone who waits that long
