Possible Changes to Employment-Based Green Card Processing as House Passes Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act

Current U.S. federal immigration law places a numerical cap on the total number of employment-based green cards issued each year. Of this annual quota, nationals of any single country can receive no more than 7% of the total number of available employment-based green cards. Under the present law, nationals of countries with high population numbers (particularly India and China) face green card waitlists that can be decades long because the demand from these countries far exceeds the available number of immigrant visas.

Representatives Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Ken Buck (R-CO), and 112 bipartisan members introduced the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019 (H.R. 1044), which would among other things eliminate the per-country numerical limitation for employment-based immigrants, and increase the per-country numerical limitation for family-sponsored immigrants from 7% to 15%. This means the wait time for national of India and China for employment-based green cards would go down but the wait time for all other countries worldwide would increase significantly. This past July, the House of Representatives passed the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019 (H.R. 1044) by a vote of 365 to 65. Unfortunately, the House of Representatives never had a single hearing on the bill before it passed.

This bill has immigration practitioners split. The Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019 is expected to increase costs, burdens and uncertainty for U.S. employers that rely on foreign workers to supplement labor shortages in the American workforce. Removing the numerical quote would appear fair on its face.  However, employers that previously have not experienced substantial delays in the employment-based green card process should prepare for increased wait times. If enacted, the bill will force such employers to wait several years for a large number of sponsored employees to receive green cards. 

Another bill, introduced by Senator Rand Paul, Backlog Elimination, Legal Immigration, and Employment Visa Enhancement (BELIEVE) Act, would also eliminate the per-country numerical limitation for employment-based immigrants, but also among other things increase the number of employment-based green cards available each year, exempt certain health care workers and certain spouses and children from counting against the worldwide limitation on the number of employment-based visas, and allow spouses and children of E, H, and L visa holders to pursue employment.

Since the BELIEVE Act would eliminate Employment Based per-country quotas just like H.R. 1044, hopefully the overwhelming majority of Representatives who voted for H.R. 1044 in the House would also support the bill.