Number of Green Cards To Increase Under New Proposal
Congress legislators introduced the Dignity Act of 2025, a bipartite proposal that would increase the number of green cards available for immigrants and implement major immigration reforms.
The legislation, HR 4393, aims to revise the arrears of Visa, to extend the eligibility for the permanent residence and to resolve the status of dreamers in parallel with the major changes in the safety and border verification rules.
Nowsweek Contacted the sponsor of the bill, the representative Veronica Escobar, for more information by e-mail.
Why it matters
Green cards, officially known as permanent residence cards, allow holders to live and work in the United States on a permanent basis and are a critical route to citizenship.
The proposed changes would relieve various groups, including undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as a minors (dreamers), those trapped in the arrears of visas and qualified workers confronted with long expectations due to limits by country.
As the workplace needs and demographic changes intensify, the number of green cards emitted has fluctuated, which has an impact on more than a million people per year.
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What to know
Representatives Maria Elvira Salazar, a Republican from Florida, and the Democrat of Texas Escobar in Texas presented the Dignity Act in the House of Representatives of the United States on July 15, 2025.
The bill offers a series of border security measures and immigration reforms, with several provisions to extend access to green cards.
Under the bill, those who have entered the United States as a deferred action and recipient for children’s arrivals could adjust their status to a legal resident (LPR) by fulfilling certain criteria, such as obtaining a university diploma or a technical school, serving in the American army for at least three years, or maintaining a coherent job for at least four years with a valid work permit.
The law also aims to reduce the arrears of legal visas to a maximum of 10 years. To do this, individuals waiting for more than a decade of employment or the background of family immigration could pay fees of $ 20,000 for accelerated treatment.
The current ceiling per country for green cards would drop from 7% to 15% of the annual total for employment -based categories and sponsored by the family.
This would reduce the bottlenecks specific to the country who affected the candidates of countries like India and China, who face much longer expectations than the others.
In 2023, around 1.17 million people obtained green cards, an increase of 15.2% compared to the previous year, reflecting changes in pandemic restrictions and immigration policy.
The majority of green cards (64.6%) are sponsored by the family, followed by employment at 16.7%.
What people say
Florida GOP representative Maria Elvira Salazar said in a statement: “DIGNITY ACT is a revolutionary bill that offers the solution to our immigration crisis: to secure the border, to stop illegal immigration and to offer a long -term opportunity to stay here and work. No amnesty. No documents.
What happens next
The 2025 DIGNITY ACT has been referred to several chamber committees, including the judiciary and internal security, for examination.
