Senate Passes Budget Reconciliation Bill Containing H-1B Visa and Employment-Based Immigration Relief
November 10, 2005
On November 4, as part of the budget reconciliation process, the Senate adopted the Judiciary Committee's recommendations, and passed the budget reconciliation bill with the immigration provisions intact. An amendment introduced by Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) which would have stripped the immigration relief portions of the bill was roundly rejected by a vote of 84 to 15. The bill will go to the House of Representatives for debate before moving to the President for his signature. We will, of course, keep you apprised of any developments in this important piece of legislation on this website.
The Senate bill provides temporary relief from the H-1B visa blackout and the employment-based immigrant visa backlogs, in exchange for increased fees on some petitions. Some of the immigration-related provisions included in the bill are as follows:
- Impose a new $500 fee on immigrant visa (I-140) petitions for the EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3 categories.
- Recapture unused employment-based visas from prior years for immediate allocation of up to 90,000/year. (Estimates indicate there are only 90,000-100,000 unused numbers to be tapped.)
- Exempt spouses and minor children from counting against the annual cap on employment-based immigrant visas. (Estimates are that this would lead to an annual increase of 80,000-90,000 employment-based immigrant visas.)
- Allow individuals to apply for adjustment of status before an immigrant visa is deemed currently available.
- Recapture approximately 300,000 unused H-1B numbers dating back to FY 1991, effectively raising the cap from 65,000 to 95,000 for at least 10 years.
- Impose a new fee on the recaptured H-1B visas so that the fees on the original 65,000 H-1B allotment remain unchanged but the additional 30,000 available annually carry an additional $500 fee.
- Impose a new $750 fee on L-1 visas.
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