H1B Visa Bill and Green Card Bills – Latest Updates – Feb 2017
President Trump wanted to reform the H1B Visa Process and we have seen New H1B Visa 100k bill already introduced. We don’t have a clear idea on what to expect from the President Trump about the H1B Visa Program and Legal Immigration Reform. Plus, there’s a pending decision on the H1B Visa Lottery lawsuit. One thing is for certain, we are going to have a wild ride as these new bills are introduced.
I will be tracking the H1B Visa Bills and Green Card Reform bill in this page. If there’s a bill that’s making movement in U.S. Congress or Senate, I will highlight them in the post.
- New H1B Visa Bill Tracker
- Green Card Bills Tracker
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How can you help?
All these bills require support to move forward. Support in terms of other members of Congress co-sponsoring the bills. How can we help to get other members of Congress to Cosponsor the bills? You should call them and visit them and ask them to support a specific bill.
- Go Here to Find your Congressional Representative.
- Your zip code will list Two Senators and One House Member
- Go to their official website and find their phone number
- Call Them and Ask to speak to their Staff who handles Immigration
- Then tell them that you live in their District/State and request them to co-sponsor “XYZ Bill” and why they should co-sponsor.
- This probably takes 3 minutes of your time.
New H1B Visa Bills Tracker
Here’s the list of New H1B Visa bills that are introduced or yet to be introduced in the U.S. Congress.
1. HR 170 Protect and Grow American Jobs Act”
- AKA: H1B Visa 100k Bill
- Date introduced: Jan/03/2017 (Originally from July 2016)
- Sponsors: Congressman Darrell Issa co-sponsored by Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.)
- Summary: This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to revise the definition of “exempt H-1B nonimmigrant” to eliminate the masters or higher degree requirement and raise the annual salary threshold requirement from $60,000 to $100,000.
- Bill Status:
- Where was Bill Introduced: U.S. House
- Originally In
- Is this Bill passed in the House? No
- Is this Bill passed in the Senate? No
- Is this Bill signed into Law? No
2. S.180 – A bill to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to reform and reduce fraud and abuse in certain visa programs for aliens working temporarily in the United States, and for other purposes.
- Date introduced: Jan/20/2017 (Originally from 2007)
- Sponsors: Senators Grassley, Durbin
- Summary: Eliminates Lottery with the preference system in the order – advanced degree holders, those being paid a high wage, and those with valuable skills. More authority to investigate employers and provisions to prevent outsourcing companies from replacing American Employees. Reforms H1B and L1 programs.
- H1B Preference Order:
- Advanced Degree in STEM from a US university
- Companies who offer a Level 4 wage for that H-1B worker
- Advanced Degree degree in any other major from a US university
- Companies who offer a Level 3 wage for that H-1B worker
- Bachelor’s degree in STEM from a US university
- Bachelor’s degree in any other major from a US university
- Etc..
- Bill Status:
- Where was Bill Introduced: Senate
- Is this Bill passed in the House? No
- Is this Bill passed in the Senate? No
- Is this Bill signed into Law? No
3. H.R.670 – To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to reform the H-1B visa program, and for other purposes.
- Date introduced: Jan/24/2017 (
- Sponsors: Zoe Lofgren
- Summary:
- Eliminates Per Country Cap for Green Card
- Strengthen the integrity of H1B program
- Reforming prevailing wage
- Prohibit Penalty against foreign high skilled workers
- Market Based H1B Visa Allocation
- Visas reserved for Small employers
- Removing visa hurdles for F1 Visa Holders
- Bill Status:
- Where was Bill Introduced: House
- Is this Bill passed in the House? No
- Is this Bill passed in the Senate? No
- Is this Bill signed into Law? No
- More Details Here
Green Card Bills Tracker
1.H.R. 392 – Fairness for High Skilled Immigrants Act
[x_alert type=”success”]This is a promising Bill. Please contact your Congress Representative – One House Member and ask them to Co-sponsor this bill. This bill will drastically lower the wait time for Green card and bring fairness to the system by eliminating the Countyr Cap. [/x_alert]
- Date introduced: Jan/20/2017
- Sponsors: Congressman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT)
- Summary: Fairness for High Skilled Immigrants Act replaces the current per-country caps on immigration with a first-come first-served visa system without increasing the total number of available visas. The current system of awarding no more than 7% of available employment-based visas to one country is discriminatory.
- Bill Status:
- Where was Bill Introduced: U.S. House
- Is this Bill passed in the House? No
- Is this Bill passed in the Senate? No
- Is this Bill signed into Law? No
- An identical version of this bill (H.R. 3012) passed the House during the 112th Congress. The Same Green Card bill was introduced in the 113th (HR 633) and 114th (HR 213) Congresses but did not receive a vote.
2. The Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment Act
- Date introduced: Feb/7/2017
- Sponsors: Congressman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT)
- Summary:
- Reduce the number of green cards issued annually from one million to 500,000. For instance, once a legal immigrant to get citizenship, they cannot apply for Green card for their Parents. Green Card is limited to Spouse and Children.
- Prioritize Immediate Family Households.
- Eliminate Outdated Diversity Visa Lottery.
- Place Responsible Limit on Permanent Residency for Refugees
- Bill Status:
- Where was Bill Introduced: U.S. Senate
- Is this Bill passed in the House? No
- Is this Bill passed in the Senate? No
- Is this Bill signed into Law? No
- More Details
As the days pass in President Trump Administration, we are seeing several Bills have been introduced in the Congress. There’s no significant progress in any of these Bills. But, if Congress is going to pass an Immigration Bill it should be done within first 2 years of this Administration (2017 and 2018). Because, on the Election year, congress tries to avoid passing Major Immigration bill that could impact the members’ election.
Latest News and Updates
Feb 22, 2017
- Legal Immigration is completely a separate subject
- H1B Visa and other legal immigration is not a top priority right now for Trump Administration (maybe at later date)
- Impact: H1B Visa 2017 season should proceed without any changes to the lottery process (or minimum salary requirements)
https://twitter.com/DaniellaMicaela/status/834470859049885696
Bookmark this page for updates. As the new H1B Visa bills and Green Card bills are introduced, I will be updating this page. Plus, if there’s any progress on the above listed bills, I will update them as we move forward.
H.R. 170, as Amended, Quickly Passed by the House Judiciary Committee
The bill was passed as amended very quickly by the House full Judiciary Committee at 11:15 a.m. and the bill will be submitted to the House floor for its decsion. It is likely that this bill will be passed by the House floor very soon.
Summary of the bill by the bill sponsor.
Anyone reply:
Couple of people are asking to sign some immigration related & they explaining that they will help us to improve H1B rules, EAD for H1B for approved I-140, I also getting invitation for Whatsapp group(s) also called something that they are filing some H-902 quota for country India to increase & they needs to get signed from Future FY2018 & Current H1B holders people with name, contact details, Address etc.
They found me from friends that I am on OPT and Filing for H1B FY-2018 & they told me that this is for your beneficial as well.
Do you or anyone can suggest is this legal to do?
They are Indians I may 99% trust on them in my country land but not here in America.. I can’t trust except my family and some famous blogs like immigration Girl etc or well known immigration attorney only.
I like & Pray for all, if some immigration rules (Good rules.! Fair rules.) for our country India born people including me who waiting for GC & Going to apply in nearest future.:) But I don’t signed any paper due to I don’t know it’s worth it?
I asked them who handling these kind of Group admin, Group invitation senders & who want signed paper for increase GC quota for India that any immigration lawyer, senator or Filed petition anywhere etc proof? but I don’t get best answer from them.
How many people do you signed these kind of papers with your local state H1B groups or blogs? My means some people come to your home as well to ask for get signed some papers with your name address etc.
If it’s not genuine please update here guys.. ? Best Luck all.
Don’t know they asked me to sign H.R. 392? or HR or H-902 etc. I don’t sign at this time.
Please share your expertise and advice from others are welcome.
Wrong country of birth mentioned in my I 797c but in I 129 it’s mention correctly.
It ‘ll affect during visa stamping.
Raghu,
If you check govtrack.us, there is less than 5% possibility for the bill to pass.
So all the bills introduced are a dud in the committee…..
I don’t think so, it going to make it to the floor.
Hi Raghu,
My brother is coming to US for Masters this Fall,so being watching the current situation ,is that worth caming to US,if there is any problem for getting H 1B later,please suggest before he decides to come there. Thanks a lot
Hi Raghu,
How to, I want apply Green Card.
Hi Raghu,
Any comments on the new bill proposed by Sen. Tom Cotton on green card crack down.Could you please let us know if it will impact EB1/2/3 GC.
Page is updated. This is one the restrictive Immigration Bill. Let’s watch how things move. But, Call your congress members to support HR 392. We need more co-sponsors for that Bill.
Hi Ragu,
My son would like to pursue MS (CSC) in USA for FALL 2017, please suggest whether we have to wait or proceed for applying for admission to universities.
Do they get OPT for 3 years ? As per new rules do they have (STEM OPT guys) 20,000 H1-B quota
If they don’t have H1-B what is an alternative
Hi Raghu,
My H1B got approved in last month.i am planning to attend for visa interview .based on the current situations, is it correct time to attend visa interview.
Hi Raghu,
Could you please explain why H.R. 392 is under Green card Bill Tracker.The details in H.R. 392 mentions about Visa CAP per country,is it applicable to GC processing CAP as well ?
Yes that’s for GC.
Hi Raghu,
How this bill would affect the university professors earlier graduated from reputed US university in STEM field and currently working on h1b visa, and making under $100K per year?
It’s a bill, not a law. We can discuss when these bills become a law. Until then don’t worry 🙂
Hi Raghu,
TOI is reporting that per new bill, the min wage will be raised to 130K. How authentic is that news?
Hi Ameya,
TOI has done a poor job of tagging the bill as Fairness for High Skilled Immigrants Act. Actually they are referring to HR 670. You can find detail at
https://lofgren.house.gov/uploadedfiles/high_skilled_bill_sxs_and_analysis_-1-2017__final.pdf
This bill was introduced by a Democrat Senator so not sure where it will go. There are three other conflicting bill introduced in house HR 170, HR 180 and HR392. In addition there is a executive order coming. So wait and watch. Bill introduced in house does not mean it will get passed. Lets hope the best. I feel there is a need to reform H1B visa and its abuse. Let be positive and not caught up in wrong media advertisement. Best Approach is to check the law number and go to congress.gov website and check out the bill text.
Hi ,
Please check the proposed bill in the below link.
130K is for the companies which has more than 15% of foreign employees.
Ie,H1B dependent companies.
https://lofgren.house.gov/uploadedfiles/high_skilled_bill_sxs_and_analysis_-1-2017__final.pdf
also if the company cannot pay 130k , they have to provide attestation that they will not displace american workers , something like that , which means even if they can’t pay you 130 k does not mean that is the end of the world for u , raghu can you please explain that to us , what that means
We can discuss this when bill is implemented.
Hi raghu ,
This is exact 130000 bill we are talking about , news are spreading fake knowledge .
https://lofgren.house.gov/uploadedfiles/high_skilled_bill_sxs_and_analysis_-1-2017__final.pdf
Read this man !!! TOI is shit !!!!
regards
I don’t blame TOI. They need page views to survive too. I have sensationalized some posts too. But readers should spend more time to stay informed and don’t take anything at the face value. Check the other post about 130k I wrote about.
Hi Raghu,
If opt extension revoked- will it affects to recent graduates (December, 2016)?
Timely updates really good.
No stand alone bills pass even President wants or not..because they need 66 senators for any new stand-alone bill for which GOP doesn’t have..i believe OPT extension and H4 could be revoked without congress approval.
Thanks for the timely updates Raghu
My wife has ead and soon I140 will be approved..can we apply for my work permit.
I have H1B visa and working as full time employee in USA for last 10 years and currently have 100k wage.
Is the new H1B rule make any restrictions to my H1B extension in March 2018.
Hi Raghu,
If passed/signed into law, will the new ‘H1B Visa 100k Bill’ affect existing H1B holders with salary less than 100k when they are due for H1B renewal. If yes, will it also affect existing H1B holders with approved I-140 petition when they are due for H1B renewal as they wait for their Green Card.
How much time it will take to pass/reject?
There’s no timeline or deadline. It depends on what President Trump Wants and When.
Hi Raghu,
What is “exempt H-1B nonimmigrant” to eliminate the masters or higher degree requirement in Protect and Grow American Jobs Act” (HR 170)?
Currently OPT students are given 20,000 Visas at a minimum. If the Bill passes they will not have that protections anymore. They are treated equal to any other person when applying to H1B.
Summarizing, it makes it difficult for MS students to get a H1B unless you earn more than 100k.
it takes on an average 260 days to pass a bill!