A resurgence in legal immigration to the U.S. after pandemic in visa approvals-:

As legal immigration bounced back in visa approvals after the Covid-19 pandemic, the U.S. issued around half a million permanent visas to immigrants abroad in the financial year 2022. A 73% jump from the fiscal year 2021 and a 7% rise from the fiscal year 2019 have been observed in the visa approvals for the immigrants who applied to move to the U.S.

Channels:

Several legal channels allow immigrants abroad to shift to America individually sponsored by their job employer or who have their family members. The people awarded the immigrant visas (short-term workers, other temporary visa holders, except tourists) are permitted to live and work in the U.S. permanently or become permanent residents or green card holders.

Partial Ban:

Earlier, during the covid-19 the Trump administration put a limit on immigrant visas, stating the adverse effect of the pandemic on the economy. But soon after President Biden started office in 2021, he lifted the restrictions on the visa issue and eliminated the barriers to legal immigration to the U.S.

Julie Stufft, the State Department's deputy assistant secretary for visa services, said in an interview that their goal is to make visa processing smoother than it was pre-pandemic and that they recovered from the covid-19 conditions faster than expected. 

Under the category of immigrant visas to spouses, children, and parents of U.S. citizens, the State Department issued approx. 212,000 visas which is considered the highest number since 2018. Under another category of family members of U.S. citizens and permanent residents- approx. 157,000 immigrant visas were issued. The category where employers sponsor immigrants abroad received a rough number of 55,000 visas.

There is a per-country cap on visas under the family preference and employment categories. The employment-based visas are usually capped at 140,000 per year.

A system cannot run without hindrances. Since the start of the pandemic, visa approvals have increased to the next level and the system is facing problems regarding the lengthy waits for interview. Many unresolved cases have piled up and the process has not returned to pre-pandemic capacity.

According to the State Department data, the waitlist of immigrant visas to be interviewed at U.S. consulates is 377,953. Although the interview waits times have decreased since the start of the pandemic, some of them have remained tedious. For example, tourist visa applications have a higher wait time- an average of 999 days for an interview at the U.S. agencies in Mumbai, and New Delhi (India).  

The authority also told that many of the temporary visas issued in the fiscal year 2022 were rejected without in-person interviews. For this, the U.S. has been able to conduct waive in-person interviews for certain temporary visas.

As the process of legal immigration to the U.S. in visa approvals has bounced back, the U.S. is trying its best for the smooth functioning of the system as it was pre-pandemic and figuring out the backlogs of hundreds of thousands of visa cases pending.