There has been some talk in our Comments section about the SKIL Bill. It remains the best hope for people seeking an elimination of retrogression for Schedule A workers — registered nurses and physcial therapists.
Here is a quick summary so that everyone can familiarize themselves:
1. Market based H1 cap AND no cap for US Masters H1s. The H1 cap can increase as much as 20% per each successive year.
2. No Schedule A Immigrant visa (IV) quota — forever
3. Doubles the IV ( aka green card) numbers
4. No IV quota for US Masters degree holders.
5. Creates a “streamlined process” for employers of IVs so that they shouldn’t have to, for instance, keep answering an “ability to pay” RFE over and over again.
6. Premium processing of I-140s.
7. Eliminates SWA’s processing of PERM PWDs by making the function a national one AND mandates that the PWD must be issued within 20 days.
8. Re-institutes the in-country visa revalidation, which was eliminated in 2003, which eliminates the hurdle in revalidating H-1 visas.
Here is our previous posting, which also includes a link to the actual language of the bill.