Number of Brazilians Receiving U.S. Green Cards Breaks Record in 2019

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The number of Brazilians granted the green card in the United States has broken a record, show U.S. government data.

In 2019, the number of permanent residence permits for Brazilians reached almost 20,000, 29% more than in 2018, the year with the most visas of its kind until then. Between 2011 and 2019, there were over 120,000 such visas.

The numbers for 2020, which will be the last of the ten-year period, have not yet been accounted for but should result in the decade being higher than the preceding period, between 2001 and 2010, when over 123,000 permanent residence visas were granted. The figures are more than double that of the 1990s.

The survey was conducted by AG Immigration Law Offices based on data from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which is responsible for immigration processes. The data refer to the 2019 fiscal year (period up to September of each year), disclosed only this year. Data for 2020 will only be released in September 2021.

“The numbers show that the growing anti-immigration rhetoric has not necessarily reflected in a decrease in the issuance of the green cards,” says the Brazilian and American attorney Felipe Alexandre, representative of AG Immigration in New York and who has lived in the U.S. since childhood.

The green card, or US Permanent Resident Card, is a visa that entitles the holder to permanent residence in the United States. It is the least restrictive visa available: while other visas are temporary, the green card guarantees residence for an unlimited time. Whoever is granted a green card will no longer need to be linked to any institution, such as a company or a university to study, for instance, and may work or study in the U.S. with no restrictions.

However, it is not yet “American citizenship”, and people with a green card cannot vote. “But it is common that sometime later green card holders apply for full citizenship and obtain it,” says AG’s Alexandre.

In all, approximately one million citizens from around the world are granted permanent residency in the U.S. annually (in addition to the green card, political asylum, or other forms). The figure has remained relatively constant over the past two decades when the number began to grow – it was much lower in the 1980s.

Part of the reason for the lower impact on green card emissions is because the visa is ultimately an option for only a very small portion of Brazilian immigrants to the U.S. Most visas are intended for U.S. citizens’ relatives. In general, Brazilian professionals with careers of national interest to the U.S. and professional or academic experience in the country, such as technology and healthcare professionals, are also successful in their applications.

Investors who prove to have invested at least US$900,000 and generated jobs in the country can also apply for visas under specific categories. There are also green card options for specific profiles, such as famous artists and athletes, globally recognized talents, and big entrepreneurs. For these groups, the anti-immigration rhetoric has not affected the immigration process in practice, says Alexandre.

Although illegal immigration or that of less qualified workers has always been challenged in the U.S., in recent years, the government of President Donald Trump has defended greater obstacles to legal immigration too.

One of the cases that became the subject of debate in the Trump government was the work visa for highly qualified workers, the H1B – very common, for instance, in Silicon Valley startups. Trump criticized this type of visa for claiming that it took jobs from American workers.

Technology companies like Google and Facebook criticize the statements and claim that restrictions on H1B will hinder innovation and progress in the country. Over 500,000 foreigners are in the U.S. with a visa in this category.

This year, amid the pandemic, the government temporarily blocked the issuance of new green cards and new visas like the H1B. The president’s measure to ban students from entering the U.S. during the pandemic if they were taking only classes online, also raised objections from universities – in the U.S., a significant portion of university revenues come from foreign students, who typically do not obtain scholarships or other deductions.

In addition to the professional field, other ways to obtain permanent residency visas include kinship with other green card holders or marrying a U.S. citizen.

According to the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there are over 1.4 million Brazilians living in the U.S., a third of them in Florida, a state with a strong Latin tradition and which includes cities such as Orlando and Miami.

The number of Brazilians granted permanent residency per year is lower than some Central American countries, with a higher rate of immigration to the U.S. (such as the Dominican Republic or El Salvador, which has more than 25,000 new residents per year, although its population is smaller than Brazil).

Other North American countries (Mexico and Canada, which together have 20 times more permits than Brazil) and China (more than 60,000 permits in 2019) are also among the leaders in U.S. authorizations.

Source: Exame

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