H.R. 3012, the Fairness for High Skilled Immigrants Act, passed the House by an overwhelming 389-15 vote with a rare bipartisan support. If it becomes law, there is no doubt Indian immigrants will benefit the most. China EB2 could see a shorter wait as well, but all other EB2 categories that currently have no waiting list may begin to retrogress. For the third preference, the vast number of India-EB3 applicants will likely push everyone else backwards. After all, the total number of visas doesn’t increase – this is the fundamental problem.
Is H.R. 3012 fair? Well, it depends on whom you ask.
Immigration attorney Cyrus D. Mehta posted a blog yesterday offering his opinions: How Fair is the Fairness for High Skilled Immigrants Act.
The passage of H.R. 3012 has been met with jubilation by Indians and Chinese, but those from the rest of the world may not be so happy. While Indians and Chinese may still need to wait, the waiting times will get more tolerable, but others who did not have to wait in the EB-2 will now need to wait. While it is hard to predict, there may eventually be waiting times of 1-2 years for all countries in the EB-2. While everyone in the EB-3 is subject to unreasonable waiting times, upon the elimination of the per country limits, Indians may still need to wait but it will not be for 70 years. Instead, it may be 10-12 years for all EB-3 nationals, according to the NFAP report.
URGENT!
Please register your support for HR 3012
Currently the EB-green card applications are extremely backlogged for India/China with wait times of over 10 years.
H.R.3012 is a bill in the senate that will fix this by eliminating discrimination against Indian/Chinese applicants in the EB-based green card process by removing the per country quota system. The bill also increases the cap on per country family visas to 15 percent of the total number of family-sponsored visas given out. This will help reunite families that have been separated for decades due to the protracted family reunification immigration process.
This bill has already passed the US House of Representatives on Nov 29th with 96% support (Final vote tally was 389-15) and is now pending action in the Senate.
You can help by spending a couple of minutes by signing an online petition showing your support.
Here is the link:
http://www.petition2congress.com/5686/please-vote-yes-on-fairness-high-skilled-immigrants-act/Alternately, you can google the phrase “HR3012 petition2congress” and click on the first link in the search results.
By signing the online petition your support will be registered and emails/letters will be delivered on your behalf to your local senators.
A couple of minutes of your time will significantly help alleviate the suffering of thousands of green card applicants and their families who are stuck in wait times stretching from anywhere between 8 to 30 years.
This is the last step so please act now and also spread the word.