Almost 400,000 immigrants can spend years waiting for their visa or 'green card' due to the delays of the pandemic

Luwan Beyene, 29, was forced to start work at night when the pandemic forced the school for his 2- and 5-year-old children to close.

In this way she could give attention to her children, but she did not have time to rest because at the end of the day she had to go to work as a caregiver in San Francisco.

“

My life is falling apart

.

My only hope is that my husband can come, "said Beyene, who has been in the country for four years. Her husband is in Ethiopia awaiting an immigrant visa. He was awaiting an interview when the pandemic began and the US consulates temporarily closed. "They froze everything and we never heard from them again," the woman said.

The immigration process for the spouse of a permanent resident in the United States to obtain their papers could take, before the pandemic, more than two years.

Now more than 380,000 visa applicants have had their interviews delayed and could remain in limbo for years, according to The New York Times. 

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The Administration chaired by Joe Biden is facing a complex scenario.

The president has vowed to reopen the country's gates, lifting restrictions on refugees, foreign workers and asylum seekers, but

immigration experts warn that the delay could take years to resolve

.

Consulates around the world issue about half a million immigrant visas each year, most of them for the spouses, children and parents of US citizens and permanent residents.

Former President Donald Trump signed a proclamation in April suspending most legal immigration - with a few exceptions - on the pretext of protecting American jobs during the pandemic.

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According to the aforementioned newspaper, senior officials of the Biden Administration refused to say when the proclamations prohibiting the entry of legal immigrants could be lifted, noting that it would take time to review the policies of his predecessor.

In addition to suspending most legal immigration, the

Biden

government

is faced with consulates around the world being understaffed

to process visas, budget shortages, and all the related logistical problems. with the pandemic.  

A State Department official told a federal court last month that many consulates were

"extremely understaffed"

and had difficulty scheduling in-person interviews.

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According to data from the State Department, consulates have processed only the applications of spouses and children of US citizens during the pandemic, issuing them at a third of the rate they have under normal conditions.

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The pandemic and immigration procedures

For immigrant advocates, the Trump Administration promoted a deliberate slowdown in these immigration procedures, and there is evidence that emergency resources were diverted from visa processing.

But State Department officials and former consular officials said consulates faced major challenges caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.

Consulates put in place public health precautions, such as physical distancing in waiting rooms and fewer interviews at a time.

As a result

, the capacity to process

visas

has been reduced

.

"We are working to return to normal staffing levels and visa workload levels prior to the pandemic, while protecting the health and safety of our workforce and our clients," a State Department official.

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Resignation of workers and budget crisis

The American Foreign Service Association, which acts as a union for diplomats working at consulates, recently warned that employees were resigned from their positions due to lack of opportunities.

The New York Times reported in June that several black diplomats had resigned after facing discrimination.

Others left in response to the policies of the Trump Administration.

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Jan. 14, 202103: 00

The Foreign Service and Public Administration

lost a total of 408 employees

abroad

in the last four years

, approximately 4.5% of the State Department's workforce abroad, according to the department's Human Resources Office.

Furthermore, consulates are facing a budget crisis.

Consular operations are financed with the fees collected for the processing of visas -including tourism and other non-immigrants-, which amount to about 3.5 billion dollars a year.

As a result of the pandemic, losses of about $ 1.4 billion are forecast in 2020 and continued losses through at least 2022.

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Even if Congress appropriated emergency funds, an increase in hiring would not be felt immediately.

New diplomats take about two years to pass the foreign service exam and complete the necessary training.

To cope with the delays, immigrant advocates are pushing for major changes to the visa adjudication process.

The first of his suggestions is to

eliminate the personal interview

, something that other Western countries, such as Canada, the United Kingdom and many European countries, have done.

Advocates and former consular officials have suggested that distance interviews could be offered to all applicants for immigrant visas, and that interviews could be dispensed with for certain categories of immigrants where fraud is rare, such as people over 65 years.

But face-to-face contact is paramount for consular officers, who are trained to interpret body language and even the choice of words the applicant uses.  

With information from the

New York Times.