Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2017
Latest action. Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2017
This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to: (1) eliminate the per country numerical limitation for employment-based immigrants, and (2) increase the per country numerical limitation for family based immigrants from 7% to 15% of the total number of family-sponsored visas.
The Chinese Student Protection Act of 1992 is amended to eliminate the provision requiring the reduction of annual Chinese immigrant visas to offset status adjustments under such Act.
The bill establishes the following transition period for employment-based second and third preference (EB-2 and EB-3) immigrant visas:
for FY2017, 15% of such visas allotted to natives of countries other than the two countries with the largest aggregate numbers of natives obtaining such visas in FY2011;
for FY2018, 10% of such visas allotted in each category to natives of countries other than the two with the largest aggregate numbers of natives obtaining such visas in FY2012; and
for FY2019, 10% of such visas allotted in each category to natives of countries other than the two with the largest aggregate numbers of natives obtaining such visas in FY2015.
The bill sets forth the following per country distribution rules: (1) for transition period visas, not more than 25% of the total number of EB-2 and EB-3 visas for natives of a single country; and (2) for non-transition period visas, not more than 85% of EB-2 and EB-3 visas for natives of a single country.
Amendments made by this bill shall take place as if enacted on September 30, 2016, and shall apply beginning in FY2017.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on February 2, 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 2, 2017: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- 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?
Mike Lee (R-UT) introduced it on February 2, 2017, and 20 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 10 Democrats, 10 Republicans.
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 February 2, 2017, 3507 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 3507 days ago, on February 2, 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
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers