‘For Indians stuck in Green Card backlog there is a light at the end of the tunnel.’
US India Political Action Committee (USINPAC) has welcomed the passage of a bill eliminating Green Card country caps by the Senate even as it acknowledged that it’s not a done deal yet.
The Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2020 (S.386) was passed by the US Senate earlier this month. It must now be reconciled with the companion House legislation (H.R. 1044) passed in July 2019 with significant differences.
“We still have a long road ahead to get this legislation on the President’s desk and signed into law, but having it pass the US Senate is significant progress,” said USINPAC Chairman, Sanjay Puri.
“For Indian nationals who cannot get through the heavily backlogged process of acquiring an H1-B work visa, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.”
Currently, the US enforces a 7 percent per-country cap for employment-based visas which is a significant roadblock for Indian nationals hoping to work here, the bipartisan community organization noted.
The signing into law of this legislation would completely eliminate the current backlog, USINPAC said.
Puri thanked Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) for introducing S.386 as also other Senators, including Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, for their support in passing the bill.
Originally introduced in 2019 by Lee, S.386 amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to eliminate the per-country limitation for employment-based immigrants in the US and increases the per-country limitation for family-sponsored immigrants.
While it remains far from being a done deal that this legislation will officially become law, the Senate’s passage of the bill provided relief for hundreds-of-thousands of Indian professionals working in the US on H1-B work visas as at least one hurdle has been cleared, USINPAC said.
Congress will need to agree to a final, identical version of the bill for both houses to pass before sending it to the President’s desk, it noted.
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