Bill To Remove GC Country Caps Introduced In Senate

Bringing some good cheer to thousands of Indians stuck in decades long wait for green cards, a new bill has been introduced in the US Senate to bring about a merit based immigration system.

The EAGLE (Equal Access to Green Cards for Legal Employment) Act of 2022 phases out the 7% per-country limit on employment-based immigrant visas and raises the 7% per-country limit on family-sponsored green cards to 15%.

Senators Kevin Cramer and John Hickenlooper introduced the bipartisan legislation in the Senate that was earlier introduced in the House of Representatives by Zoe Lofgren and John Curtis.

FWD.us a bipartisan political organisation estimates that over 800,000 people, including dependent spouses and children, mainly from India, are stuck in the employment based green card backlog.

To ensure that immigrants from lower admission countries do not face significantly increased wait times as a result of the new version of EAGLE Act, the bill reserves some green cards and creates a complex transition period before eliminating the employment-based per-country cap.

Also included in the bill is language addressing the challenges brought on by the backlogs, such as allowing individuals to apply for adjustment of status before they receive a green card if they have waited two years or more.

People who file early for adjustment are able to obtain travel authorization and portable employment authorization so that they are able to change jobs.

The bill ensures that children remain eligible regardless of their age when the visa becomes available, helping to keep families together.

Aside from modernizing the per-country cap, the EAGLE Act also introduces new oversight and reporting requirements and new fees for H-1B highly-skilled temporary workers.