House Delays Vote - No Immigration Relief Yet
Posted Nov 18, 2005

After this article was sent to MurthyBulletin subscribers, the U.S. House of Representatives did vote on a House version of the Budget Reconciliation Bill. Read more in our Nov 18, 2005 NewsFlash! House Passes Budget Reconciliation Bill.
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The U.S. House of Representatives (House) has delayed voting on its version of the budget reconciliation bill. As regular MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers know, the Senate budget reconciliation bill contains a number of favorable immigration provisions. These provisions are discussed in greater detail in our November 11, 2005 MurthyBulletin article, Senate Passes Immigration Relief, available on MurthyDotCom.
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The Senate version of the bill addresses both the H1B cap problem and the problems faced by many due to visa number unavailability (retrogression). The H1B cap would be addressed by allowing the use of unused numbers from prior years when the cap was higher, up to 30,000 per year. Retrogression would be addressed in a variety of ways, including recapturing unused numbers, not counting spouses and children against the limit, and allowing adjustment filings without a visa number available. Though the House version does not have similar provisions, the House must vote on a budget reconciliation bill for discussions to move forward.
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It is unclear whether the House will move forward with its plan to vote on its own version of the bill or to vote on the Senate version of the bill, which has already passed the Senate. It is likely that no definitive action will occur until at least the fourth week of November 2005, if not later. We remind MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers that these provisions are not yet law. Many MurthyChat participants, members of the MurthyForum, and others have been asking us how to get one of the 30,000 H1Bs. These simply are not available and will not be available unless the provisions are adopted by both Houses of Congress and signed by the President into law. We at The Law Office of Sheela Murthy are following this proposed legislation carefully. We will continue to monitor this important matter and provide updates to our readers as and when available.