High-Skilled Integrity and Fairness Act of 2017
Latest action. Referred to the subcommitteeA smaller panel inside a standing committee with jurisdiction over a slice of its subject matter. Most hearings and the first markup usually happen here.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) on Immigration and Border Security.
High-Skilled Integrity and Fairness Act of 2017
This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to: (1) eliminate the per-country limit for employment-based immigrant visas, and (2) increase the limit for family sponsored visas.
The bill revises: (1) the H-1B nonimmigrant visa (specialty occupation) program, including by revising the definition of "exempt H-1B nonimmigrant"; and (2) the computation of prevailing wage level for purposes of occupational classification.
The bill provides that H-1B visas will be allocated on a three-tiered wage-based system if H-1B visa petitions exceed the number of visas available for a fiscal year.
An employer may not reduce H-1B wages, except for taxes, garnishments, or under a collective bargaining agreement or where otherwise customary.
The bill reserves 20% of fiscal year H-1B visas for employers with 50 or fewer full-time employees, including parent, subsidiary, and other affiliated entities.
The bill authorizes dual intent for F-1 visa foreign students. (Dual intent is an immigration concept that allows aliens to be temporarily present in the United States with nonimmigrant status and immigrant intent.)
Students may use work experience as qualifying labor certification experience.
An amended H-1B petition shall not be required where a petitioner has a valid labor condition application for a new place of employment that has terms and conditions of employment that are the same as the previous place of employment.
The receipt of information from an employer for H-1B hiring purposes shall not be considered to be the receipt of information for purposes of determining employer compliance with labor condition requirements.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on January 24, 2017. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on February 8, 2017: Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 115th Congress (2017-18), 442 of the 11,421 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.9 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
ZOE LOFGREN (D-CA) introduced it on January 24, 2017. No cosponsors are recorded.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on January 24, 2017, 3516 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 3501 days ago, on February 8, 2017.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 115th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2019 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers