The waiting period for those applying for family-based immigration are likely to be made longer as an immigration reform bill to eliminate sibling immigration is under discussion of the Congress.

The bill, proposed by a bipartisan group of US Senators known as the "Gang of Eight", sets thresholds for siblings and the married adult children of US citizens, and the spouses and children of green-card holders.

If the bill is signed into law, US citizens will no longer be able to sponsor their siblings or married children over the age of 31 for permanent residency.

Li, a Chinese-American living in Washington DC, told the Global Times that this was bad news for her and her family as she had been applying for sibling immigration for her brother and sisters for nine years.

There is a backlog of petitions as the number of applicants far exceeds the number of available slots. Right now there are 4 million people on the waiting list, with applicants from Asia accounting for more than half. According to the State Department, the government is only now handling applications for siblings filed in May 2001.

That means there are three more years worth of petitions that the government will process ahead of Li's family, who first initiated their application in 2004, meaning a total wait of 12 years to become permanent residents.

The wait is even longer for immigrants from Mexico and the Philippines, for which the government is processing applications from 1996 and 1989 respectively.

Li's family is lucky as their successors will have no chance after the bill goes through in the Congress.

The "Gang of Eight" negotiators painstakingly worked to deliver a bill that could gain support from both parties. However, the current bill limits the ability for some parents to bring their children here, and eliminates the right for siblings to sponsor their brothers and sisters.

According to the current draft of the bill, sibling immigration will be eliminated after the bill takes effective in 18 months, while brothers and sisters will be allowed to visit siblings in the US for 60 days every year. Moreover, the "Gang of Eight" also suggested that the annual 55,000 quotas of green card draw for multinationals be canceled, only keeping the qualification for people from a few countries and regions including Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Sibling immigration, together with employment immigration, is the major channel for Chinese people to obtain green cards. Therefore, the elimination of sibling immigration will have a great impact. Based on State Department statistics, 11,000 Chinese received green cards through sibling immigration petition in 2011, taking up one-sixth of the total 65,000 sibling immigrants. In 2011, 55 percent of Asian immigrants got their green cards through sibling immigration.

Yvonne Lee, a civil rights activist, told reporters that the Chinese community should fight for their rights as they will likely lose this chance forever otherwise.

After debating amendments on provisions ranging from sibling immigration to high-skilled worker visas, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a comprehensive immigration bill by a 13-5 vote in May. The bill has now moved to the Congress floor.