In a move that will bring cheer to hundreds of Indians waiting to get a green card, the new US President, Joe Biden, will introduce an immigration legislation that will scrap country-specific caps for employment-based green card.
Biden’s immigration bill, entitled the US. Citizenship Act of 2021, will be introduced on day one after he assumes office. The proposed law will address three areas: provide a pathway to citizenship for many immigrants who do not have legal status, provide technology for border security, and address the root cause of migration. Indian IT professionals, who come to the US on the H-1B work visas, will benefit from the move as the current immigration system imposes a 7 per cent per country quota on green card or permanent legal residency.
Benefit IT professionals
“The recent immigration bill proposes to eliminate the per country cap for employment-based green cards. This move is likely to benefit thousands of Indian IT professionals who typically wait for decades to attain the legal permanent residency status. The Bill aims to create a conducive environment for immigrants by prioritising unification of families, which indirectly helps the country’s economy grow and responsibly manage the border with smart investments,” said Sonam Chandwani, Managing Partner at KS Legal & Associates.
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Poorvi Chothani, Managing Partner at immigration law firm, LawQuest, said this was only a first step. “Bringing in a Bill means it’s being considered, but there is no guarantee that it will become the law. Removing per country caps, for employment- based immigration, will help Indians tremendously as there are thousands waiting in the queue. Whether this Bill is enacted into a law or not remains to be seen but we are expecting major immigration changes under Biden,” Chothani said.
Another move Biden could do is to overturn the outgoing President Donald Trump’s recent decisions on H-1B visas.
Final rule
On January 12, the Department of Labour (DOL) published an advance copy of a final rule that changes how prevailing wage levels will be computed for permanent labour certifications. This rule will increase wage costs for most tech companies. On January 15, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) quietly issued a new rule that will broaden the the employer-employee relationship’s definition.
“I am also of the opinion that Biden may reverse these regulations as they would hamper the US-India relations,’ said Chandwani.