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5/15/2006 IMMIGRATION ALERT:
A CALL TO ACTION: RETROGRESSION
Timing
HLG projects that the Schedule A visa allotment -- for Registered Nurses and
Physical Therapists -- provided by the May 2005 legislation will end in 4Q
2006 (October-December 2006). At that point Schedule A visas (aka EX visa
allotment) will be re-included in the General EB3 visa allotment. Presently,
the General EB3 visa allotment is oversubscribed, which is to say that the
demand for General EB3 visas far exceeds the quota allotment. This
phenomenon is known as retrogression. The EB3 category retrogression is
approximately five years. In other words, a case filed today will not
receive a green card interview for about five years.
Competing Bills
As you are likely aware immigration is near the top of every headline.
Congress is spending a lot of its time looking at reforming the immigration
laws. Essentially there are four types of Immigration reform that may be
passed by Congress; some of which will cure this problem. President Bush
will likely sign anything that Congress presents him, although he is pushing
for Comprehensive Reform.
Comprehensive Reform
These proposals, promoted by a range of Representatives and Senators on both
sides of the aisle (including Sen. Brownback, Sen. McCain, Sen. Kennedy,
Sen. Cornyn and Sen. Kyl) calls for increased border security, along with
increased immigration quotas. Some comprehensive reform bills also carve out
special healthcare visa increases, including one proposal which exempts
Schedule A occupations from any green card quotas for the next 5-7 years.
Enforcement Only
These proposals, promoted mainly by House Representatives Sensenbrenner
(R-WI) and Tancredo (R-CO) demand that the US fixes its borders before
raising immigrant quotas. In December 2005, the House passed an Enforcement
Only bill.
Business Immigration Reform
These proposals call for increased H-1 and employment-based green card
quotas. Some proposals contain carve outs for healthcare visas. They are
mainly supported by the manufacturing and IT communities. It is unlikely
that Business Immigration Reform will happen unless it becomes apparent that
Comprehensive Reform is unlikely to happen.
EX Visa Carve-Out
In 2005, HLG along with stakeholders successfully lobbied Congress for a
special visa quota – the EX Visa Carve Out. This Carve Out segregated
Schedule A occupations from the General EB3 visa quota. If Comprehensive
Reform and Business Immigration Reform is unsuccessful, we may have to try
and extend the current EX visa quota.
Future
HLG projects that there is a 50% chance that a Comprehensive Bill --
including a possible 5-7 year elimination of any quota for Schedule A visas
-- will be passed prior to this November's elections. We base this from a
review of news articles, interviews, discussions with Washington DC
lobbyists, conversations with interested stakeholders in the industry, and
off-the-record discussions with Congressional staffers.
In the event that a Comprehensive bill is not passed or an Enforcement Only
bill is passed, there is a chance that a Business Immigration bill may get
passed by Congress. The Business Immigration bill would likely be driven by
the IT and manufacturing communities who badly need increased visa numbers.
HLG projects that there is a 25% chance that a Business Immigration bill
will pass prior to the November elections (i.e. a 50% chance if no
Comprehensive bill is passed).
CALL TO ACTION
As the spring turns into summer, HLG will continue to monitor these possible
outcomes. HLG is in the process of reinvigorating its Advocacy team from
2004 and 2005. We are actively courting funding pledges.
The 2004-5 effort cost in excess of $100,000. We will need to raise at least
this much in order to insure that Healthcare’s interests are preserved. If
Healthcare is subject to the 5 year visa retrogression, it is likely that
many Recruiting and Staffing companies will close their business and the
entire foreign healthcare recruitment market will cease to exist. Please
take a moment to contact Chris Musillo and pledge your support to this
cause.
If you are interested in pledging your support, please contact Christopher
T. Musillo, Esq., Partner, Hammond Law Group, (cmusillo@hammondlawfirm.com).
Please also visit HLG's Healthcare and Immigration Blog:
http://hammondlawgroup.blogspot.com
Keep up with the latest Immigration News by signing up
for all of Hammond Law Group LLC's free publications:
Immigration Alerts, Medical Monthly Monitor and Business Immigration
Quarterly.
http://www.hammondlawfirm.com/mailing_list.htm
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