Recently Introduced Legislation Addresses H1B Cap and EB Limits
Posted Apr 27, 2007
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Recent legislation has been introduced to help address certain issues that are of concern to MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers. If passed into law, this legislation could greatly benefit many. On April 10, 2007, Senator Cornyn, a republican from Texas, introduced the Securing Knowledge, Innovation and Leadership (SKIL) Act of 2007. The bill addresses the H1B visa cap and provides relief for employment-based "green card" backlogs making more visa numbers available in those categories. Additionally, Senator Hagel, a republican from Nebraska, introduced the High-Tech Worker Relief Act of 2007. We emphasize that both of these bills are proposals, only. They do not mean that there have been changes in the law nor do they mean that there is any certainty that the law will change. What they mean is that there are efforts being made to change the laws.
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SKIL Act
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In his opening remarks, Senator Cornyn emphasized the importance of retaining U.S. competitiveness when "everyone has to do their part to keep our country's economy strong and viable." Senator Cornyn also referred to the congressional testimony of Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, which was reported in our March 16, 2007 MurthyBulletin article Proposal to Increase H1B Quota Gathers Momentum!, available on MurthyDotCom. In his testimony, Mr. Gates proposed an increase, and even elimination, of the H1B annual quotas in order to boost the nation's competitiveness in a global economy.
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The SKIL Act of 2007 does not purport to replace or eliminate the need for legislation on Comprehensive Immigration Reform. Instead, it provides for an emergent measure to fix the problem revealed by the current H1B cap crisis. Among other things, the bill provides for a flexible calculation of H1B visa numbers per year, which would depend on then-current demand. It also provides for a mechanism to retain foreign workers educated in the United States, to reduce immigrant visa backlogs, and to reform the student visa system to facilitate growth of U.S. business and economy.
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High Tech Worker Relief Act of 2007
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The High Tech Worker Relief Act, also introduced in the Senate, proposes to temporarily increase the number of visas that may be issued to certain highly-skilled workers. This bill focuses on providing immediate relief from the current H1B cap crisis. If enacted, this act would increase the H1B visas available from 65,000 to 115,000 for the fiscal year (FY) 2007, and to 195,000 in the FY2008. In FY2009 and every succeeding fiscal year, the number of H1B visas available would revert to 65,000 per year. This then could be reexamined and increased, if the U.S. continued to need higher levels of H1B workers.
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The bill proposes to lift any numerical limitation on H1B visas available to people with advanced degrees earned in the U.S. This limit is currently set at 20,000 per year.
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In addition, the bill would add several categories of foreign nationals who are not subject to numerical limitations counting toward immigrant visas. These categories would include foreign nationals who have earned advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering, and math and have been working in related fields in the U.S. under nonimmigrant visas during the three-year period preceding their applications for immigrant visas. Also included would be people who qualify for the EB1 category of extraordinary ability and outstanding professor or researcher, individuals who qualify for the national interest waiver (NIW) as part of the EB2 category, and the immediate relatives of employment-based immigrants.
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Further Action Required for Bills to Become Law
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As explained in our August 2, 2002 article The Legislative Process - How a Bill Becomes a Law, further action is required before these bills can become law. Therefore, the SKIL Act of 2007 and the High Tech Worker Relief Act of 2007 should simply be considered proposals that do not have any power of law at this time. They do represent recognition by at least some in Congress, however, that the H1B limits are simply not currently working. We at the Murthy Law Firm will provide our input and support for positive immigration reform, directly and by supporting and participating in the lobbying efforts of AILA, Immigrants' List and like-minded organizations. We will continue to share developments with our readers when more information becomes available.