NPZ Immigration Law Blog

Backlogs in the immigration of high-skilled workers have made it harder for businesses in the United States to hire workers from overseas. Well, there have been a few Bills proposed in Congress that will work to reduce backlogs and other challenges that employees and employers. Here’s what you should know about these Bills, as explained by the NPZ Law Group.

The RELIEF Act

This Act removes the 7% country cap for employment-based immigrant visas. It also proposes a shift to a system that is based on a first-come, first-served design for a 3-year period. Thus, this Bill will increase the number of employment-based immigrant visas and simultaneously reduce backlogs.

The Jumpstart our Legal Immigration System Act

This Bill was proposed in April 2022 to the House of Representatives. It will recapture 157,000 employment-based visas and 222,000 unused family-sponsored visas. In addition, future visas won’t go unused and would rollover if passed. The Bill will also offer $400 million to US Citizenship and Immigration Services. Thus, applicants who are eligible for permanent residence can submit their application even if they lack an available visa number.

The Preserving Employment Visas Act

This Bill is focused specifically on eliminating the employment visa backlog due to the COVID-19 pandemic by rolling over the thousands of visas that were not provided because of the pandemic. These visas would also not count toward the 7% country cap.

The Bipartisan Innovation Act

This Act is the reconciliation act of the two passed bills, the US innovation and Competition Act and the America Competes Act. Both of these focus on attracting STEM Ph.D.s and highly-qualified entrepreneurs to the US. This Act will exempt STEM Ph.D.s from annual immigrant visa limits, create a “W” visa for entrepreneurs who are managing a start-up company, and offer additional protection for Uyghurs persecuted and those from Hong Kong.

The US Citizenship Act of 2021

This Bill removes per-country limits for employment-based visas. It also does not count spouses and children in the caps for employment-based visas. Also, those waiting to apply for permanent residence (PR) for over 10 years can apply right away without being counted in the annual limit.

The EAGLE Act

This Bill, which stands for Equal Access to Green Cards for Legal Employment, is about green card reform. It eliminates the 7% country limit and allows some foreign employees to seek lawful PR if they are already in the United States with a temporary work visa.

If you have any questions about how these proposed new immigration laws in the United States may impact you or your family or want to access additional information about the United States or Canadian immigration and nationality laws, please feel free to get in-touch with the immigration and nationality lawyers at NPZ Law Group. You can send us an email at info@visaserve.com, or you can call us at 201-670-0006 extension 104. In addition, we invite you to find more information on our website at www.visaserve.com.