Looks like we can continue to look forward +ve even after retrogression for EAD.
10/21/2005: AILA Confirms Following Details of Senate Judiciary Approvals Yesterday
* According to the AILA, AILA has passed the following immigration proposals yesterday:
o Impose a new $500 fee on immigrant visa petitions for the EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3 categories.
o Recapture unused employment-based visas from prior years for immediate allocation of up to 90,000/year. (Estimates indicate there are only 90,000-100,000 unused numbers to be tapped.)
o Exempt spouses and minor children from counting against the annual cap on employment-based immigrant visas. (Estimates are that this would lead to an annual increase of 80,000-90,000 employment-based immigrant visas.)
o Allow individuals to apply for adjustment of status before an immigrant visa is deemed currently available. (Of course, approval could not occur until the visa number is available.)
o Recapture approximately 300,000 unused H-1B numbers dating back to FY 1991. As a result of Senator Feinstein's amendment, 30,000 rather than 60,000 would be available annually. (In other words, effectively raising the cap from 65,000 to 95,000 for at least 10 years.)
o Impose a new fee on the recaptured H-1B visas so that the fees on the original 65,000 H-1B allotment remain unchanged but the additional 30,000 available annually carry an additional $500 fee.
o Impose a new $750 fee on L-1 visas. (This was part of Senator Feinstein's amendment and was necessary to offset the reduction in revenue resulting from the limitation on recaptured H-1B numbers from 60,000 to 30,000.)
* We agree with the AILA that these are not final bills and we have a long way to go to make these proposals into a reality. Businesses, academic institutions, and other stakeholders should keep working with their Congressional representatives to support the Senate Judiciary bill.
10/21/2005: AILA Confirms Following Details of Senate Judiciary Approvals Yesterday
* According to the AILA, AILA has passed the following immigration proposals yesterday:
o Impose a new $500 fee on immigrant visa petitions for the EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3 categories.
o Recapture unused employment-based visas from prior years for immediate allocation of up to 90,000/year. (Estimates indicate there are only 90,000-100,000 unused numbers to be tapped.)
o Exempt spouses and minor children from counting against the annual cap on employment-based immigrant visas. (Estimates are that this would lead to an annual increase of 80,000-90,000 employment-based immigrant visas.)
o Allow individuals to apply for adjustment of status before an immigrant visa is deemed currently available. (Of course, approval could not occur until the visa number is available.)
o Recapture approximately 300,000 unused H-1B numbers dating back to FY 1991. As a result of Senator Feinstein's amendment, 30,000 rather than 60,000 would be available annually. (In other words, effectively raising the cap from 65,000 to 95,000 for at least 10 years.)
o Impose a new fee on the recaptured H-1B visas so that the fees on the original 65,000 H-1B allotment remain unchanged but the additional 30,000 available annually carry an additional $500 fee.
o Impose a new $750 fee on L-1 visas. (This was part of Senator Feinstein's amendment and was necessary to offset the reduction in revenue resulting from the limitation on recaptured H-1B numbers from 60,000 to 30,000.)
* We agree with the AILA that these are not final bills and we have a long way to go to make these proposals into a reality. Businesses, academic institutions, and other stakeholders should keep working with their Congressional representatives to support the Senate Judiciary bill.
