U.S. Congress to vote on bill to remove country-cap on Green Card

  1. The US House of Representatives will vote on legislation called Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act also known as HR 1044.The bill seeks to lift the country-cap on issuing green cards.
  2. The lifting of per-country cap on Green Card would mainly benefit professionals on H-1B visas from countries such as India for whom the wait for Green Card is more than a decade.
  3. Some of the recent studies have said the waiting period for Indian IT professionals on H-1B visas is more than 70 years.
  4. Further,experts have said that this bill will increase the per-country cap on family-based immigrant visas from 7% of the total number of such visas available that year to 15%.
  5. The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise.
  6. Dependents of H-1B visa holders get H-4 visas.Green Card is an identification card which gives one the status of a permanent resident along with legal rights to work in the USA.