Our office recently received several inquiries regarding the recent immigration bill introduced by Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah which was recently passed by the House of Representatives. H.R. 3012 known as the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act proposes to do two things that are noteworthy as it affects both employment-based and family based immigrant visa availability. If passed into law, it will: eliminate the per country cap on all employment-based immigrant categories; and raise the per country cap in family-based immigrant categories from 7% to 15%.
The goal of this legislation is to ultimately create a “first come, first serve” system based on when the immigrant petitions are filed and priority dates assigned.
Current immigration laws set an annual cap of immigrant visas available for both family-based and employment-based preference petitions. For family-based preference immigration a total of 226,000 immigrant visas are available each year. This is further divided into the different preference categories. In addition, there is a per country quota which limits the number of immigrant visas available per country to 7%. This means that no one country would have more than 25,620 immigrant visas available to them each year.
For employment-based immigration, a total of 140,000 immigrant visas are available which is divided into the different preference categories with a per country cap also set at 7%. This means that no one country would have more than 9,800 of the total allotted employment-based immigrant visas available to them annually.
H.R. 3012 is expected to phase out the per country limit during a three year transition period beginning Fiscal Year 2012 for employed-based preference petitions. The elimination of the per country cap in employment-based preference categories would mostly benefit China and India, the two countries with the most severe employment-based immigration backlogs.
The bill likewise proposes to raise the country cap in family-based immigrant categories to 15% from 7%. Increasing the per country quota is expected to benefit countries with the longest wait periods for family-based immigrant visas which are Mexico and the Philippines. For example, under the present quota system, a sibling from the Philippines currently waits for over 20 years for an immigrant visa to become available. Hopefully, by raising the country cap, the backlogs would be shortened.
While the bill did sail through the House of Representatives, it still has ways to go. At the moment Senate action on the bill has been blocked. Sen. Grassley of Iowa has placed a “hold” on the bill. Placing a hold delays any Senate action on the proposed legislation. At the moment the fate of H.R. 3012 is unclear, we will keep you posted of any news relating to this bill.
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Atty. Jean S. Tinsay is a partner in the Law Firm of Chua Tinsay and Vega (CTV) - a full service law firm with offices in San Francisco, San Diego and Manila. The information presented in this article is for general information only and is not, nor intended to be, formal legal advice nor the formation of an attorney-client relationship. Call or e-mail CTV for an in-person or phone consultation to discuss your particular situation and/or how their services may be retained at (415) 495-8088; (619) 955-6277; j This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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