Home US USA passes Bill to remove Country-Cap on Green Cards, Indians to Benefit

USA passes Bill to remove Country-Cap on Green Cards, Indians to Benefit

Indian Professionals in US will largely benefit from this Bill
Indian Professionals in US will largely benefit from this Bill

US lawmakers have passed a Bill removing country-wise caps on Green Card permissions in the United States. More than 300,000 Indians are likely to benefit from this move

The US House of Representatives lawmakers passed a Bill on 10 July 2019 that removes country-wise caps on Green Card permits in the United States.

The Bill aimed at lifting the seven per cent country-cap on issuing Green Cards, where no more than seven per cent of applicants can be considered for permanent residency.

The move will largely benefit thousands of highly-skilled Indians working in the United States. Indian IT professionals are the worst sufferers under the country-wise cap, with more than 300,000 professionals waiting for permanent residency.

Most Indians arriving in USA are highly skilled and come to the country mainly on the H-1B work visas. The current immigration system which imposes a seven per cent per country quota on allotment of the coveted Green Cards or permanent legal residency mainly affects Indian professionals.

Lifting the per-country cap will certainly benefit Indian professionals from the antagonising wait for permanent residency, which can sometimes be more than a decade.

The Bill, named Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act or HR 1044 increases the per-country cap on family-based immigrant visas.

 From seven per cent of the total number of visas available a particular year currently, it increases it to 15 per cent for employment-based immigrant visas.

The Bill has been supported by both Republicans and Democrats but still needs to be passed by the Senate.

Also read: http://diplomacybeyond.com/explained-the-political-and-economic-transition-in-greece/