# Fairness for High Skilled Immigrants Act

The Fairness for High Skilled Immigrants Act or 'Equal Access to Green cards for Legal Employment Act or Immigration Visa Efficiency and Security Act is proposed United States federal legislation that would reform U.S. immigration policy, primarily by removing per-country limitations on employment-based visas, increasing the per-country numerical limitation for family-sponsored immigrants, and for other purposes without increasing the number of visa. It also reforms the H-1B and L-1 program by increasing the minimum wage and instituting series of new regulation to weed out abuse and prioritize American Workers. In 2020, the legislation passed both the House and Senate for the first time. However, the versions differed and required reconciliation, which could not be completed before the 116th Congress ended due to time constraints. To move forward, the legislation had to be reintroduced in the 117th Congress. Following the conclusion of the 117th Congress, it has now been reintroduced in the 118th Congress.

## Objective

The bill intends to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to:
(1) eliminate the per country numerical limitation for employment-based immigrants,
(2) increase the per country numerical limitation for family based immigrants from 7% to 15% of the total number of family-sponsored visas.
(3) Institute a series of new regulations to the H-1B and L-1 program by cracking down on outsourcing companies, tightening regulations for hiring H-1B workers, increasing the minimum wage and indexing it to inflation every 3 years.

## History

The legislation to eliminate per country caps on employment based green cards was first introduced by Rep. Lofgren, Zoe and Bob Goodlatte in the 110th congress [2007-2008] , which intended to eliminate the 7% annual numerical cap on applicants' birth country in the US Employment based immigration. It has been introduced by various law-makers with bi-partisan support in almost every congress since then, either as a stand-alone bill or as an amendment with other bill.
| Year | Congress | Bill no. | Sponsor / original sponsors | Co-sponsors | Status |
| 2007-2008 | 110th | "H.R.5921". 3 June 2008. | Rep. Lofgren [D-CA-19] and Rep. Goodlatte [R-VA-6] | 24 | Introduced in House |
| 2011-2012 | 112th | "S.1983". 13 December 2011. | Sen. Schumer [D-NY] and 5 others | 5 | Introduced in Senate |
| 2011-2012 | 112th | "S.1857". 10 November 2011. | Sen. Lee [R-UT] | 0 | Introduced in Senate |
| 2011-2012 | 112th | "H.R.3012". 23 January 2012. | Rep. Chaffetz [R-UT-3] | 11 | Passed House |
| 2013-2014 | 113th | "S.293". 13 February 2013. | Sen. Lee [R-UT] | 0 | Introduced in Senate |
| 2013-2014 | 113th | "H.R.633". 8 April 2013. | Rep. Chaffetz [R-UT-3], Rep. Lofgren [D-CA-19] and 1 other | 14 | Introduced in House |
| 2015-2016 | 114th | "H.R.213". 2 February 2015. | Rep. Chaffetz [R-UT-3], Rep. Lofgren [D-CA-19] and 1 other | 147 | Introduced in House |
| 2017-2018 | 115th | "H.R.670". 8 February 2017. | Rep. Lofgren [D-CA-19] | 0 | Introduced in House |
| 2017-2018 | 115th | "H.R.392". 11 July 2017. | Rep. Chaffetz [R-UT-3], Rep. O'Rourke [D-TX-16] and 24 others | 329 | Introduced in House |
| 2017-2018 | 115th | "S.281". 2 February 2017. | Sen. Lee [R-UT] | 20 | Introduced in Senate |
| 2019-2020 | 116th | "S.386". 9 July 2019. | Sen. Lee [R-UT], Sen. Harris [D-CA] and 13 others | 35 | Introduced in Senate- House version of the bill passed senate unanimously with amendments |
| 2019-2020 | 116th | "H.R.1044". 3 December 2020. | Rep. Lofgren [D-CA-19], Rep. Buck [R-CO-4] and 115 others | 311 | Passed House and Senate |
| 2021-2022 | 117th | "S.4567". 20 July 2022. | | | Introduced in Senate |
| 2021-2022 | 117th | "H.R.3648". 7 June 2022. | | | Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Judiciary |

## H.R.392 - Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2017

The bill, H.R.392 was originally introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives in January 2017 by Representative Chaffetz. On July 11, 2017, Representative Yoder assumed first sponsorship of H.R.392 with unanimous consent, for the purpose of adding cosponsors and requesting reprintings pursuant to clause 7 of rule XII, without objection. The bill got 329 cosponsors, which includes 25 original sponsors.

### Bill summary

This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to: (1) eliminate the per-country numerical limitation for employment-based immigrants, and (2) increase the per-country numerical limitation for family-based immigrants from 7% to 15% of the total number of family-sponsored visas. The Chinese Student Protection Act of 1992 is amended to eliminate the provision requiring the reduction of annual Chinese immigrant visas to offset status adjustments under such Act.
The bill establishes a transition period during which a percentage of employment-based second and third preference (EB-2 and EB-3) immigrant visas are reserved as follows 1. for FY2017, 15% of the annual employment based visas are reserved for non-backlogged countries 2. for FY2018, 10% of the annual employment based visas are reserved for non-backlogged countries 3. for FY2019. 10% of the annual employment based visas are reserved for non-backlogged countries During the transition period, not more than 25% of the total number of the reserved EB-2 and EB-3 visas shall be allotted to natives of a single country.

## H.R.1044 : Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2020

The bill, H.R. 1044, was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives in February 2019 by Democratic Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren and Representative Ken Buck. It was considered and substantially amended in the U.S. Senate (S.386) which passed unanimously led by Senator Mike Lee . The two versions of the bill differed such that they had to be reconciled in conference committee prior to final passage and signature by the President. Congressional proponents sought an alternative procedural approach to passage of the bill of placing key provision of the bill into an omnibus spending bill. However, on December 21, 2020, Congresswoman Lofgren issued a statement which indicates that Congress was not able to reconcile the House and Senate versions of the bill, nor attach key provisions to the omnibus spending bill prior to the end of the 2019-2020 congressional calendar. This statement was an apparent concession that the bill had no realistic possibility of passage in its then-current form in the 116th Congress, but Lofgren's statement does seem to imply that she will reintroduce similar legislation in the future.

### Key provisions
#### Per-country employment-based visa limitation

In the 1924, Congress imposed the first-ever quota on US immigration, but rather than just a worldwide limit, it also distributed the numbers between countries in order to give preference to immigrants from Eastern Hemisphere. In 1965, Congress repealed this system with one that allowed immigrants from any country to receive up to a maximum of seven percent of the green cards issued each year. Prospective employment-based Immigrants born in countries with large populations, have wait times from decades to over a century, while the Immigrants born in lower population countries might wait as little as a year or less for their employment-based visas. The primary proposal of this bill is to eliminate the birth country reservation on employment-based visas to prioritize the immigrant petitions based on their application date in all employment-based immigration categories without increasing the annual limit of 1 million Green cards a year. If enacted, this bill would create equal wait time for immigrants in employment-based visas irrespective of where they were born.

#### Per-country family-based visa limitation

Family-based visas allow for U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents, or "green card" holders, to assist family members from abroad in obtaining a lawful entry – U.S. citizens can bring more distant relatives. Current U.S. immigration law limits family-based immigrant visas to 7% from any given country. But rather than eliminating this cap, the bill would increase it to 15% per country.

#### Transition period

The House and Senate versions of the bill both contain transition, or "phase-out" timelines that reserve a percentage of EB-2 and EB-3 green cards for immigrants of non-Chinese or Indian origin. The two versions differ substantially in the length of this transition period, with the House version being three years, and the Senate version being eleven years.

### Legislative history

* 02/07/2019 - Introduced in House led by Rep Zoe Lofgren
* 02/07/2019 - Introduced in Senate led by Senator Mike Lee
* 06/27/2019 - Senator Rand Paul Blocked Unanimous Consent to create a visa carve-out for nurses
* 07/10/2019 - Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 365 - 65 (Roll no. 437).
* 07/19/2019 - Senator Chuck Grassley amended S386 to include provisions to the reform the H-1B program and labor condition applications.
* 09/19/2019 - Senator David Perdue Blocked Unanimous Consent.
* 10/17/2019 - Senator Dick Durbin Blocked Unanimous Consent.
* 08/05/2020 - Senator Dick Durbin amended S386 and released the hold.
* 08/05/2020 - Senator Rick Scott Blocks Durbin, Lee Compromise Unanimous Consent.
* 12/02/2020 - Senate Committee on the Judiciary discharged by Unanimous Consent.
* 12/02/2020 - Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate with Lee amendment by Voice Vote.

## Support

Support for the legislation primarily stems from U.S. science and technology firms, notably Silicon Valley, which recruit skilled immigrants from countries like India and China in STEM fields. These companies face frustrations due to bureaucratic hurdles for their immigrant employees and their families for obtaining a green card which restrict their ability to change jobs, start businesses.
Advocates highlight it a critical step forward in modernizing the H-1B and L-1 visa programs to weed out fraud and abuse. By raising the minimum wage for H-1B visa holders and indexing it to inflation, the bill addresses the longstanding concern of wage suppression, ensuring that foreign workers are not exploited at the expense of American labor. Moreover, the Act introduces vital new regulations that crack down on the abuse of outsourcing companies.

## Opposition

Opponents of the legislation argue that eliminating per-country employment-based limits without increasing visas would benefit Indian and Chinese immigrants at the expense of both immigrants from smaller countries, and thereby reduce diversity in employment based immigration. The left-leaning American Immigration Lawyer Association states that they are "long time, ardent supporter of the elimination of the per-country limitations for employment-based immigrants because individuals should become permanent residents based on the skills they bring to the United States and not their nationality.", but opposed it because it does not increases the total number of visas.