The bill would “expedite” the importation of H-1B high-skill nonimmigrant workers by requiring the employer to submit to the Department of Labor the requisite labor condition application at the same time as the employer submits to DHS the petition for nonimmigrant admission of the H-1B worker.
To provide job creation and assistance, and for other purposes.
S. 1397, the Skilled Worker Immigration and Fairness Act, would, among other provisions, increase the annual cap on H-1B high-skilled nonimmigrant worker visas from 65,000 to 115,000. Beginning in 2008, if the cap was met in any fiscal year, it would increase it by 20 percent, with a ceiling of 180,000 per year.
The bill would authorize adjustment to lawful permanent resident (LPR) status for aliens with E-2 “treaty investor” nonimmigrant visas only if certain capital investment levels are met and specified numbers of new jobs are created; would authorize 3,000 E-2 visas to be made available each fiscal year to principal aliens (i.e., no cap on spouses or children); and would grant LPR status to any E-2 nonimmigrant alien who has been present in the United States for at least five years, provided they meet the new criteria.
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H.R.
S. 1092, High-Tech Worker Relief Act of 2007, would raise the cap on H-1B high skill nonimmigrant workers from 65,000 to 115,000 for fiscal year 2007 and to 195,000 for fiscal year 2008 and would return the cap to 65,000 for fiscal year 2009 and beyond; would eliminate the 20,000-per-year cap on visas for nonimmigrant workers who have earned a master's or higher degree from a U.S.
S. 1083, the Securing Knowledge, Innovation, and Leadership Act of 2007, would increase the annual H-1B cap from 65,000 to 115,000 and then by 20% in any following year in which the cap is met. As well, S. 1083 would increase the annual worldwide level of employment-based (EB) immigrants by 150,000 plus 340,000 spouses and minor children of EB immigrants who are exempt from the cap.
H.R. 1843, the Save Our Small and Seasonal Businesses Act, would exempt any alien who has been present in the United States as an H-2B nonimmigrant worker for any one of the previous three fiscal years and who is returning to work as an H-2B from counting against the 66,000-per-year cap on H-2B visas. This potentially triples the number of workers in a year and would make these provisions effective for five years.
H.R. 1758 would authorize DHS to issue up to 65,000 additional H-1B “high skill worker” visas per year (exempt from the extant 65,000-per-year cap) – fiscal years 2008 through 2012 – to aliens who meet H-1B admission requirements and who possess post-graduate degrees; would require an employer petitioning for such an H-1B nonimmigrant worker to make “qualified scholarship payments” to a U.S.
S. 988, Save Our Small and Seasonal Businesses Act of 2007, would have allowed an alien to return as an H-2B nonimmigrant worker without counting against the annual 66,000 cap if they had used an H-2B visa during one of the three previous fiscal years, effectively tripling the number of H-2B workers.