EMPLOYMENT-BASED
IMMIGRANTS:
Per-Country Limits Make No Sense
The Issue: Certain skilled foreign nationals who are eligible for permanent residence (green cards) are unable to complete processing of their applications simply because of their country of origin. Current immigration law imposes limits on the number of employment-based immigrants who can come from any single foreign country, without regard to their skills or the ways they can benefit the United States. Because of this limitation, backlogs in certain categories can mean waits of several years before these skilled immigrants can take up the positions for which a U.S. employer has sponsored them. Some of these individuals already are in the country working for their employers, but when their temporary status expires will have to leave the country, and their jobs.
Background:
·
Per-country limits have not always existed. Until
1986, no per-country limits applied to any country in
employment-based categories. Under current law, no more
than 9,800 visas can be issued to employment-based immigrants
(including their spouses and children) from any single country.
The quota bears no relation to demand: countries with large
populations or a large number of emigrants have the same quota as
countries with small populations or low emigration rates.
·
The backlogs are a recent phenomenon. The high-tech
boom has led to an increase in the number of employment-based
applicants, particularly from India and China, resulting in these
backlogs. However, while persons from those countries have
to wait in long lines, more than 20,000 visas under the overall
employment-based cap went unused last fiscal year, since many
countries never come close to using up their annual allotment.
·
Per-country limits restrict competition. Because of
the long waiting times, employers and the U.S. cannot benefit
from the skills these immigrants offer, simply because of the
accident of their location of birth. This limitation flies
in the face of the U.S. policy to bring the best skills and
talents of the world to this country. Further, because many
of these potential immigrants decide to take jobs in other
countries instead of waiting, the United States is placed at a
competitive disadvantage.
·
Per-country limits have resulted in absurd situations.
Some foreign nationals in the backlog have qualified to immigrate
because they have skills and abilities that “will
substantially benefit the United States” and are “in
the national interest.” Even though the INS has
certified their potential value to the United States, these
individuals still must wait years before they can get their green
cards. In addition, foreign nationals waiting their turn
include persons that will hold jobs for which the Government has
certified there are no U.S. workers available, requiring
employers to go without needed employees for long periods of
time.
Current Status: Last
year, the Senate-passed version of the H-1B bill originally
included a provision that would have allowed employment-based
immigrants to obtain their green cards without regard to the
per-country limits as long as there were unused visas available
in their category. However, the final compromise measure
that was signed into law did not include this provision. The
State Department has recently announced the current availability
of visas in all categories. However, this is a misleading
event, since the backlog of pending cases at the INS (which are
not reported to the State Department until approved) will more
than use up the allotted quotas.
AILA’s Position:
AILA supports legislative action that would allow otherwise
unused employment-based visas to be used by nationals of
oversubscribed countries without regard to the per-country
limits. Such a provision would not increase the overall
total numbers of employment-based immigrant visas available each
year, but would redistribute the current allocations based on
demand. AILA believes that employment-based immigrants
benefit this country, wherever they are from, and therefore
should be allowed to immigrate regardless of their nationality.
39BS9004 / Last Updated October 13, 1999