While news out of Washington DC is slow right now (as is always the case at year’s end), HLG is hearing that there is already a movement afoot to push Congress to get a small recapture bill passed within the first 10 weeks or so of 2007. Over the course of the spring Congress will debate a wide-ranging CIR-type bill, which healthcare immigration advocates hope will include a complete Schedule A exemption from the Green Card quota.
A time line might look like this:
Feb-March 2007: small allotment for Schedule A workers, perhaps 10-25,000 visas. Whether dependents are included is undecided at this point, but our hunch is they will be treated as they are now — i.e. part of the quota.
Summer 2007: wide-ranging CIR is passed which includes an exemption for all Schedule A applicants.