In this blog update, there is great news for thousands of Indians who were worried about their green cards.
The US government has introduced a new bill in Senate about a merit-based immigration system.
The Equal Access to Green Cards for Legal Employment (EAGLE) Act of 2022 phases out the 7% per country limit on employment-based immigrant visas (green cards) and raises the 7% per country limit on family-sponsored green cards to 15%.
This bill was introduced in the Senate by Senators Kevin Cramer and John Hickenlooper, earlier it was introduced in the House of Representatives by Zoe Lofgren and John Curtis.
Around 140,000 employment-based green cards can be issued each year under US Immigration laws. Of these, only 7% of such green cards can go to individuals from a country big or small. This creates massive backlogs for applicants, especially from China and India.
FWD.us a bipartisan political organization whose founders include Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg estimates that more than 800,00 people including dependent spouses, and children, are stuck in the employment-based green card backlog. Most of them are primarily from India.
According to the report, many people are stuck in this backlog. Including 692,000 Indians and 106,000 Chinese. If the law does not change the waiting time will exceed 50 plus years. Most importantly the families could be torn apart if the children age out (when they turn 21).
Senators Kevin Cramer and John Hickenlooper have issued a joint press release pointing out that around 95% of employment base immigrants are currently working and living in the US, waiting for their green card approval while waiting of a temporary visa.
Under the new version of the EAGLE Act allow some green cards and established a complex transition period the employment base per cap is wholly eliminated, in order to ensure that the migrants from lower admission countries do not face increased wait time as a result of the bill.
The bill also covers language to protect families and address challenges faced due to backlogs, allowing individuals to file for adjustment of status before a green card is issued to them if they have waited for two or more years for an available visa.
The early filing would allow individuals to secure travel authorization and portable (remote) employment authorization so they can change employers.
The bill ensures that the family remains together, and ensures that the children remain eligible irrespective of their age at the time of visa available to them.
Besides the modernization of the per-country cap the EAGLE Act also introduces new fees for H-1B highly skilled temporary worker program and new oversight and reporting requirements.
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