Congress Tackles Green Card Backlogs

The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation last week that seeks to end the backlogs for green cards by eliminating the per-country cap for employment-based immigrants and raising the existing per-country cap from 7% to 15% for family-based immigrants. The elimination of per-country caps would benefit Chinese and Indian nationals in particular, who face three to ten year delays in obtaining green cards based on employment.

The Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019 (H.R. 1044) was introduced by Representatives Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) and Ken Buck (R-CO), and passed with clear bi-partisan support with a 365 to 65 vote.  

The future of the bill remains uncertain as the Senate is considering a similar companion bill, S.386, which was introduced by Senators Mike Lee (R-UT) and Kamala Harris (D-CA).  If S.386 is passed, the two bills would go to a conference committee to resolve technical differences.  

We will continue to monitor the situation with regard to these bills and provide updates as soon as there are further developments. 

This alert is for informational purposes only. If you would like to discuss this development further, please contact us.