After several weeks ofcontentious negotiations, a deal has been struck to preserve nurse immigrationinto the US through the Fairnessfor High-Skilled Immigrants Act (H.R. 1044). The AAIHR, of which Musillo Unkenholt is theonly law firm member, led the fight to preserve these visas. The AAIHRissued this press release in which they thanked Senators Perdue (R-GA),Paul (R-KY),and Young (R-IN) who were instrumental in crafting the deal.
The deal is still subject totwo hurdles:
1. Any Senator can blockthe deal. While most Senators havesigned off on the deal there may still be some Senators who are holdingout. Senator Durbin (D-IL) remains ablock on the bill. Inthis video, Sen. Durbin explains his reasoning for holding out.
2. The deal is stillsubject to approval by President Trump, who is expected to sign the bill intolaw if it can get past the Senate.
If the two hurdles are notovercome, the status quo stays in place, which means 12-15-year delays for manyEB-2 and EB-3 Indians.
If the bill goes through,the new law will:
First, over a three-yearphase-in, eliminate the per-country cap on employment based green cards. This would be great news for Indian-bornimmigrants, halving their retrogression to 7-8 years.
Second, preserve 4,400 visasfor Schedule A occupations – Registered Nurses and Physical Therapists.
Third, there will beadditional burdens on H-1Bs in all industries. The details of the additional H-1B rules are forthcoming.
Again, the bill is notlaw. Negotiations remain ongoing betweenSen Lee (R-UT), who is the Fairness Act’s champion, and Sen. Durbin.