In June 2020, USCIS ended an outside contract with a company that produced secure cards such as green cards and employment authorization cards. USCIS has moved this service to its internal employees. However, given the reduced number of workers due to the Coronavirus, there is now a huge backlog of cards to be produced.
According to USCIS, its internal employees are producing 10,000 cards a day, which is barely making a dent on the backlog of 115,000 green cards and work authorization cards they have. The oldest backlog of cards is from July 6 this year. USCIS is anticipating an even bigger backlog of cards as as of August 3, 2020, USCIS will furlough 70% of its employees. USCIS is a for profit agency that uses application fees to fund the agency and its employees. At the current moment, there are approximately 20,000 USCIS officers that process and review visa and immigration applications. If 70% are furloughed, less than 6,600 agents will remain working at the agency.
You can find out more about whether an E-2 visa “leads” to a green card by clicking here.
To learn more about work authorization cards, please click here.
