Siskind Summary: The I-Squared Act of 2015
A bipartisan group of Senators re-introduced the I-Squared Act today. The bill would make a number of welcome improvements to the skilled worker immigration system. Senator Hatch (R-UT) is again the lead sponsor with Senators Klobuchar (D-MN), Rubio (R-FL), Coons (D-DE), Flake (R-AZ) and Blumenthal (D-CT) joining him. I’ve compared the bill to the 2013 version and they are pretty similar with a couple of important exceptions. First, the 2013 version raised the H-1B base cap to 115,000 and had market driven formulae to raise the cap to as high as 300,000. The 2015 version limits the upper cap to 195,000.
The section of the bill barring USCIS from denying H-1B and L-1 extensions absent evidence of a material error or unknown information in the first adjudication or a substantial change in circumstances since the earlier filing has been expanded to now include Department of State adjudications.
There’s also a new provision that appears to require the State Department to consider an employment-based preference category current until all visas in a given year are issued. This essentially would institutionalize what happened in 2007 when the State Department made all employment-based categories current in order to pressure USCIS to adjudicate all the applications it can. This will be a great relief to people who often find themselves waiting years to apply for adjustment of status until visa numbers are current.
Here’s my link to my summary of the bill.
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11 comments
Good to know this! I am certainly but would like to know that what are the chances of this bill to be converted to law sometime this year?
I think the chances are better this year than in the last Congress, but it still faces long odds mainly because of a group of House Republicans that are hostile to legal immigration as well as illegal immigration. But let’s see what Speaker Boehner can do.
Do you think all republicans votes are needed? im sure Dem’s would want to support this as well, considering everyone has now reconciled that piece meal immigration is the way to go forward.
I think this bill would easily pass in the Senate. The House is going to be the bigger problem.
Dear Mr Siskind,
I am an EB-5 immigrant living in the US and if I am interpreting it correctly the new I-Squared Act (if passed) is of paramount interest to me as well as to other employment-based green card holders.
Title III. Sec 303 of the proposed bill states:
SEC. 303. ALIENS NOT SUBJECT TO DIRECT NUMERICAL
LIMITATION.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 201(b)(1) of the Immi- gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1151(b)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(F) Aliens who are the spouse or a child of an alien admitted as an employment-based immigrant under section 203(b).
Is it supposed to mean that if I marry my non-immigrant student visa holder girlfriend if and after the law goes into effect unchanged, she can adjust status immediately? As opposed to current regulations where the only option is the heavily backlogged F2A.
Or the statue applies only to spouses married to the immigrant before he/she became an LPR?
Immediate relatives of US citizens, asylees and everyone who doesn’t have a priority date are all listed under this same subsection. What is your opinion?
Thank you very much for taking the time and considering my issue.
Unfortunately, it would only matter if the marriage took place before the green card holding spouse got the green card. This change mainly affects how long the waits will be in the employment based categories because spouses and children eat in to the quotas. It wouldn’t really affect the situation you mention.
Thank you. You are probably right. But the language of the statue only states that (1) no numerical limits (2) spouses (3) of aliens admitted under EB. The same wording as the relatives of USCs in INA. It doesn’t say accompanying spouses. I understand that their intention is to allow more EB immigrants by counting only the principal applicant against the quota, but right now the current version of the paragraph applies for any spouse in my understanding. Do you think I should write to my FL senator? He is also a co-sponsor of the bill. Thank you
There has been language in other immigration bills that would make the spouses of permanent residents immediate relatives under immigration law. That’s what you need and that’s what you should ask of your Senator.
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