The United States has recently grown vocal of the Heartland Visa, a new pathway to lawful permanent residency for skilled immigrants from different walks of life. Endorsed by the US Conference of City Mayors, the Heartland Visa is in addition to the existing popular Green Card options. This expedited path to obtaining a US Green Card has emerged from the need of offering a bait to attract skilled immigrants to cities with economic decline.
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The US has a glorious history of immigrants having been a key driver for the socio-economic growth and innovation in coastal cities and metropolitan areas. Often referred to as a nation of immigrants, America is home to 47 million foreign-born immigrants (as of 2022) which account for not more than 14% of the total US population. Notably, India being the second largest source of skilled immigrants to the US. More than half of the total immigrant populace is mostly settled in four US states: California, Texas, Florida, and New York, according Pew Research Center.
Statistically, only 5% of highly skilled immigrants are sparsely scattered in heartland region of the United States. To be precise, the heartland regions are apparently deprived of the contributions that various skilled immigrant groups have made to a few metros in the northeast, south and west coast through relentless research, innovation, investment, and entrepreneurship. It is the immigrants who have developed 55% of America’s billion-dollar startup landscape spanning from medicine to ecommerce to technology.
In a bid to revitalize the economy of heartland regions, the US Conference of Mayors brought a bipartisan immigration proposal endorsing the Heartland Visa for skilled immigrant professionals and innovators. The Heartland Visa would act as a spur for them to rejuvenate Cleveland, Memphis, Kansas, Louisville and other economically backward cities in the heartland region with job creation, investment, innovation and technology. In lieu of that, they would have fairer chances for lawful permanent residency. Precisely, their petitions would be least likely to end up in the Green Card backlog.
Key features of Heartland Visa Program in the US
The US counties or cities with sluggish growth and low median incomes, can participate in the program. Highly skilled immigrants with a heartland visa will be required to live in the counties or cities participating in the program, but they can choose to work elsewhere. They would be allowed to select an area to live in. The petitions of high earners among the applicants will be given priority for the Heartland Visa program, as per reports.
Heartland Visas are allocated on a quarterly basis for an initial period of 3 years, which can be renewed for another 3 years. This newly endorsed Green Card program will be expanded to an allocation of minimum 100,000 visas per year in the future, depending on the number of heartland areas participating in the program.
John Lettieri, CEO and President of the Economic Innovation Group (EIG) applauded the US city mayors’ endorsement of the Heartland Visa Program and labeled it as a forward-thinking approach towards tapping into global talent for the urban areas grappling with economic stagnation and population decline.” The program seeks equitable distribution of skilled immigrant population for a balanced growth across the country.