Only 40% of employment-based green cards went to workers in 2021

The immigration system of the United States favors family reunification even in the so‐​called employment‐​based (EB) green card categories. Under current interpretations of U.S. immigration law, family members of immigrant workers must use EB green cards. The American system isn’t unusual as Japan is the only OECD country with more immigrant workers than immigrant family members. Still, the difference is larger in the United States than in other countries. Instead of a separate green card category for the spouses and children of workers, those family members get a green card that would otherwise have gone to a skilled worker.

In 2021, 55 percent of EB green cards went to the family members of workers (Figure 1). The workers themselves received the other 45 percent. Those percentages are similar to 2020, with the percentage of green card beneficiaries who are workers being slightly down. Some of those family members who received EB green cards are workers, and many of them are highly skilled since skilled people tend to marry each other, so this isn’t a neat de facto division.