Bill Passed to Provide Limited Relief from Retrogression
Posted May 04, 2005
H.R. 1268, a bill that was primarily intended to provide supplemental appropriations for defense, the global war on terror, and tsunami relief, has been passed by both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. However, it contains some important immigration provisions. The House and Senate announced on May 3, 2005 that they have reached an agreement on the final wording of the Bill. This Bill is not yet enacted into law, but is expected to be signed by the President, which will finalize it into law.
The Bill would amend the provision of AC21 that released certain unused visa numbers to all employment-based categories. In H.R. 1268, 50 percent of these employment-based visa numbers are allocated solely to Schedule A cases, which affects nurses and physical therapists. This would be quite helpful to nurses and physical therapists, occupations in high demand in the U.S. It would also be helpful to address the current retrogression problem in the EB-3 category. Of course, this is a short-term solution. Details of this Bill will be made available in our May 6, 2005 MurthyBulletin and on MurthyDotCom.