Earlier this week, Senator Schumer (D NY) attached a bill that would allow up to 10,000 E3 visas for nationals of Ireland under the same rules currently utilized by the Australian E3 program. The measure has been hotlined in the Senate which typically means it will move faster and has a greater likelihood of passage. Of importance to everyone outside of the emerald isles is that this measure is attached to S1983 which is the Senate version of  HR3012 which would eliminate the per country immigrant visa limits and would have a huge impact on nationals of India and China.  HR3012 passed the House overwhelmingly by a vote of 389-15 in a show of bi-partisanship rarely seen in this Congress but, when the bill arrived in the Senate, one man,  Senator Grassley put a stop to it. It is not know whether Senator Grassley will continue to try and stop this bill in its current form, and if so, whether there are enough votes in the Senate to overcome his opposition.

The DOS released the Feb Visa Bulletin and the priority dates for EB2 India and China moved forward by a full year to Jan 2010. The rapid movement over the past several months is due to reports from the USCIS of fewer than expected 485 filings. Future retrogression remains likely if the number of I-485 filings increases.  All EB3 categories saw snail like movement forward and the predictions are for more of the same.

In the January Visa Bulletin released by the DOS, EB2 numbers for India and China moved ahead over nine months making priority dates current for all of 2008 and before.  It is interesting to note the Bulletin’s comments on the relatively few new I-485′s that have been filed in recent months in spite of the rapid forward movement of dates. I bet if they go ask anyone who had a vacation planned but then cancelled in the summer of 2007, they could explain it to them.

Last night, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 3012, the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act by an overwhelming vote of 389-15. This bill would change the way employment-based (EB) green cards are allocated by eliminating the per country quotas. If the bill becomes law, it will equalize the waiting times for employment based permanent residence, which would result in significant advancement in EB green card availability for India and China. Unfortunately, it would also create retrogression for persons from other countries, specifically those in the EB2 category, who now enjoy a “current” status. The seven percent limit per country would be eliminated by 2015. Instead of separate queues for each country in each employment based green card category, there would be eventually be a single queue for each employment-based green card category.

Until 2015, per-country limits on green cards would still exist, but a certain number of immigrant visas would be immediately allocated to India and China and away from other countries. As a result, priority dates for India and China would quickly advance in the EB-2 and EB-3 categories. However, for other countries EB-2 could retrogress and EB-3 could see further retrogression. By 2015, the EB-2 and EB-3 categories would all be backlogged, but there would be a single priority date for all countries in each category.

Although, certainly not a perfect solution, this bill is a step in the right direction and corrects one glaring defect in the employment based green card system. It is hoped that the positive reaction that this bill received in the House would motivate other immigration bills including: special treatment for STEM and Schedule A occupations, an overall increase in the level of employment based immigration, the elimination of counting dependents toward the overall EB quota, a re-capture of unused immigrant visa numbers from prior fiscal years, and/or a market based approach to the H-1b quota.  As this bill is considered by the Senate, it is hoped that further positive amendments could be added.    

The bill will not become law until it passes the Senate and is signed by the President.  We expect the Senate to take up this bill soon however, no time table has been set. We will keep you updated as developments occur.

This week, the DOS released the November Visa Bulletin and the dates jumped once again for EB2 India and Chinese nationals but, remained painstakingly slow for all others. The National Foundation for American Policy recently released a study in which it calculated that the wait in the EB3 category had reached 70 years for Indian and Chinese nationals.  Yes, that says 70 !

The DOS has released the October Visa Bulletin and it shows a 3 month jump for EB2 India and China but, the movement for EB3 was less than a month and the pace remains discouraging for employers and beneficiaries alike. Included in the Visa bulletin was the DOS’s look into its crystal ball and for the EB3 category, they are predicting movement of approximately 1 month each month for the  foreseeable future.  More troubling was the prediction that EB2 for India and China would either stagnate or even retrogress in the future.  A political solution is needed to address this ever-worsening problem of retrogression.

The DOS released the September Visa Bulletin and the EB2 categories for India and PRC showed no forward movement whereas the EB3 categories for all countries once again showed slow but, steady movement forward. It is not uncommon for the final Visa Bulletin of the fiscal year to show some slow-down or even retrogression so there should not be too much read into the lack of movement in Sept. dates for EB2 categories.

Earlier this week, the DOS released the August Visa Bulletin. Once again, it showed steady but slow movement forward.  They also released their determinations regarding overall preference and per-country allocations setting the worldwide family limit at 226,000, the world-wide employment limit at 140,000 and the per country limit at 25,620.

For those of you who are concerned about the economic impact of the curent US visa policy specifically, the impact to potential entrepeneurs, check out this most recent article from the Wharton School at UPenn.

The DOS released the July Visa bulletin today and it contained good news for India and PRC EB2 holders as the dates jumped forward almost 5 months, to March 8,2007. Other categories and countries of chargeability were not as lucky as dates continue to move forward but, at a snail-like pace.