October 21, 2005

Positive Steps Toward Increasing Employment Based Visa Availability and The H-1B Cap: Senate Judiciary Committee Passed a Proposal Yesterday to Provide Increased Visa Availability for H-1B and Employment-Based Immigration Applicants

Yesterday, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed a proposal with the below stated benefits therein, in exchange for increasing filing fees of various immigration petitions and applications.

1. Recapture unused employment based visas from previous (estimated at 100,000) years for allocation immediately of up to 90,000 per year.

2. Impose a fee increase of $500 on all EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3 immigrant visa petitions.

3. Exclude spouses and minor children from being counted against the annual employment-based immigrant visa cap thereby increasing visa availability by about 100,000 per year.

4. Allow applicants to apply for adjustment of status before an immigrant visa is available so as to allow maintenance of adjustee to fill the gap

5. Recapture an estimated 300,000 unused H-1B numbers dating back to FY 1991 and draw and release from this allotment 30,000 per year effectively raising the cap from 60,000 to 95,000 for many years, until all extra visas have been used.

6. Levy an increased fee of $500 on any unused H-1B visa from the above stated allotment.

7. Levy a new $750 fee on all L-1 visas.

The full Senate would have to vote on the Bill that is devised containing these provisions, as would the House of Representatives on its version of a Bill. Thereafter, a compromise Bill will be drafted and voted on by the Congress. If it is passed, then it would be sent to the President for signature. The President is likely to sign such a Bill.

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