S. 1965, the Startup Act of 2011, would create 50,000 new STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) visas for foreign students who graduate from a U.S. college with a master's degree or a Ph.D. The bill also creates a new visa program for 75,000 new immigrant "entrepreneurs" -- individuals who already hold an H-1B visa and would be allowed 3 extra years to remain in the U.S. and operate a new business.
S. 1258, Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2011, would allow Liberian refugees to transition from Temporary Protected Status to permanent resident status, even though the conflict in Liberia has long since ended.
S. 388, Save Our Small and Seasonal Businesses Act of 2009, would allow 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.
The bill would prohibit employers who employ H-1B high-skill nonimmigrant workers from transferring them from a worksite in one state to a worksite in another; would require employers of H-1Bs to share information exchanged with Federal agencies with prospective, current, and former H-1B workers upon request; would authorize the Department of Labor (DOL) to investigate applications that have clear indicators of fraud or misrepresentation, instead of simply checking for completeness and inaccuracies (as current law provides) and would eliminate the current statutory provision that requires t
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.
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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.
S. 1035, the H-1B and L-1 Visa Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act, would reduce much of the fraud associated with the H-1B and L-1 visa programs by, among other things, requiring employers to attest that they had tried to hire U.S. workers before importing a foreign worker and requiring H-1B and L-1 visa holders be paid prevailing wages.