SKIL Bill Passage a possibility
The Senate immigration Subcommittee held a legislative hearing yesterday entitled "U.S. Visa Policy: Competition for International Scholars, Scientists and Skilled Workers"
Subcommittee Chairman John Cornyn (R-TX) stated in his opening remarks that "American universities, companies and government
entities are waging a global battle for talent and by all accounts. Our immigration laws and policies place our country at
a competitive disadvantage... The truth is that. to retain our economic, technological and military superiority. the United States needs to compete aggressively for the world's talent".
As the chances for comprehensive immigration reform wane. Congress make seek to attach the provisions of the SKIL bill to a piece of "must-pass" legislation before the end of the year.
http://judiciary.senate.gov/hearing.cfm?id=1801
Text of Testimonies:
Bo Cooper, Former INS General Counsel
http://judiciary.senate.gov/testimony.cfm?id=1801&wit_id=5707
Phyllis Norman, VP, Harris Methodist Ft. Worth Hospital, Dallas
http://judiciary.senate.gov/testimony.cfm?id=1801&wit_id=5708
Lance Kaplan, Partner, Pragomen, et al.
http://judiciary.senate.gov/testimony.cfm?id=1801&wit_id=5709
The “SKIL” Bill
Short Title: Securing Knowledge Innovation and Leadership (SKIL)
Title I – Access to High Skilled Foreign Workers
Section 101. H-1B Visa Holders
Exempts professionals who have earned advanced degrees (e.g. Master’s degree or
higher) from accredited United States universities and those who have been awarded a
medical specialty certification based on post-doctoral training and experience in the
United States from the annual H-1B cap.
Section 102. Market-Based Visa Limits
Raises the H-1B (specialty occupation) cap from 65,000 to 115,000 and creates a flexible
system that adjusts with the market.
Title II – Retaining Foreign Workers Educated in the United States
Section 201. United States Educated Immigrants.
Exempts U.S.-educated professionals with advanced degrees and those who have been
awarded a medical specialty certification based on post-doctoral training and experience
in the United States from the annual green card (i.e. immigrant visa) cap.
Exempts from the green card cap workers of extraordinary ability (e.g. Nobel Prize
winners), and outstanding researchers and professors.
Exempts professionals who have earned advanced degrees in science, technology,
engineering or math, and who worked in the U.S. for at least three years in a related field,
from the immigrant visa cap.
Exempts spouse and minor children of professionals from the employment-based cap.
Section 202. Immigrant Visa Backlog Reduction.
Raises the immigrant visa (i.e. green card) cap from 140,000 to 290,000 and allows
unused visas to fall forward annually.
Retains current green card allocation so that majority of visas (57%) are reserved for
highly-educated/skilled workers.
Section 203. Student Visa Reform.
Many employers seek to hire U.S. educated students full-time upon graduation, and this
change would enable the employer to start the green card process while the foreign
worker is on a student visa (F-1) during Optional Practical Training (OPT). Codifies
post-graduate OPT, which will allow U.S. educated foreign students to work in their field
for up to two years after graduation.
Section 204. L-1 Visa Holders Subject to Visa Backlog.
Allows an extension of an L-1 (intracompany transfer) visa beyond the fifth or seventh
year if the individual has a green card application pending and is simply caught in the
green card backlog. This extension is currently allowed for H-1B (specialty occupation)
visa holders, but not for L-1 visa holders.
Section 205. Retaining Workers Subject to Green Card Backlog.
Allows foreign workers who have started the green card process, but who are subject to
green card backlogs, to pay a $500.00 supplemental fee to file an application to adjust
status. This change would enable foreign workers to remain in the U.S. until the green
card becomes available.
Title III – Business Facilitation Through Immigration Reform
Section 301. Streamlining the Adjudication Process for Established Employers.
Requires the creation of a pre-certification program that streamlines the adjudication
process, and reduces paperwork burdens, for employers with a track record of compliance
and who file multiple applications.
Section 302. Providing Premium Processing of Employment-Based Visa Petitions.
Requires USCIS to allow employers to file a “premium processing” fee for expedited
adjudication of employment-based immigrant petitions, as well as for administrative
appeals of any decision on an employment-based immigrant petition.
Section 303. Eliminating Procedural Delays in Labor Certification Process.
Requires the Department of Labor to process all applications filed prior to the electronic
PERM system within six months of enactment. Clarifies the Department of Labor’s
process in providing prevailing wage determinations and requires the Department of
Labor to establish a website to post open job orders.
Title IV. Miscellaneous
Section 401. Completion of Background and Security Checks.
Requires that no immigration application may be approved until the appropriate
background and security checks are completed and any allegations of fraud have been
resolved.
Section 402. Visa Revalidation/Renewal.
Allows temporary workers who have not violated their status to renew their visa from
within the United States.
Section 403. Severability.
Clarifies that if any part of this act is determined to be invalid it will have no effect on the
remainder of the provisions.