Pass a bill that removes restrictions on countries for immigrant visas in the US

(PTI) Washington, Ta. Thursday, December 3, 2020

The U.S. Senate has unanimously passed a bill removing the country's limit on employment-based immigrant visas. The bill also raises the limit for family-based visas.

The bill will benefit thousands of Indian professionals who have been waiting for years to get a green card in the United States. The Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act Bill was passed in the US Senate on Wednesday. As a result, Indian IT professionals working in the US on H-1B work visas and Indians who have been waiting for green cards for decades will be greatly relieved.

The bill was originally tabled in the U.S. House of Representatives on July 10, 2019. 65 votes were passed. Under the bill, the family-based immigrant visa limit for each country was increased from seven percent to 15 percent.

The bill was now introduced in the Senate by Mike Lee, a Republican senator from Utah. The removal of the seven per cent limit on employment-based immigrant visas will remove the huge backlog of Indian IT professionals in the US. Restrictions on visas for each country posed a constant threat to the legal status of Indian IT professionals.

In FY19, 9,008 Indians got green cards under Category 1 (EB1), 2,908 Indians got Category 2 (EB2) and 5,083 Indians got Category 3 (EB3) green cards. EB1-3 is a different category of employment based green cards. In July, Senator Lee told the Senate that there was a backlog of more than 195 years in the disposal of green card applications for Indians. The Senate passed the bill unanimously very quickly on Wednesday.

Currently, more than 1 million foreign nationals and their family members are waiting to receive a green card in the United States, with the largest number being Indians. The Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act establishes a merit-based system that prioritizes high-skilled immigrants, said Senator Kevin Cranmer.

Senator Mike Lee said the country-wide limit for green cards is discriminating against merit-based applicants. For example, if a person from India applies for a green card, he has to wait for about 200 years for his application to be considered.