On Wednesday, 10 July 2019, a bill titled the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019 was passed by the US House of Representatives. The bill would remove the 7 percent per-country cap on employment-based green cards, so that skilled professionals from countries with long backlogs would no longer wait longer than others, and would raise the per-country cap for family-sponsored green cards from 7 percent to 15 percent.
This bill is now waiting to be passed by the Senate. Most applications received are from India, China, and the Philippines. This bill has been proposed, as said by Congressman John Curtis, as a drive, to ensure serious merit-based legal immigration.
If enacted, the changes would phase in from FY 2020, with green cards issued on a first-come, first-served basis. Applicants born in India and China, who face the longest backlogs, would benefit most. The bill did not become law: it expired at the end of the 116th Congress in January 2021, so the 7 percent per-country cap still applies.
For more information, get in touch with XIPHIAS Immigration, the leading and awarded immigration firm and one of India's top immigration consultancy service providers. We advise clients on immigration to Australia, Canada, Europe, New Zealand, the UK, the US, Hong Kong and the Caribbean, among others. Our Canada work is handled with a CICC-licensed Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (licence R516194) and our Australia work with a registered migration agent (MARA 1680615).
Contact us: +971 52 727 5101 OR
Send your inquiries to [email protected]