US Immigration Bill for Additional 55,000 Visas

A top United States law maker wants 55,000 additional visas per year for foreign engineers, mathematicians, scientists and other with high-tech skills graduating with Master’s or Doctoral degree from US educational institutes.

The Republican Senator John Cornyn who is also on a panel that take care of the immigration related issues has tabled a bill that will allow 55,000 visas for high tech foreign students graduating with master’s degree or doctoral degree from US universities and research institutions.

The chances of Cornyn’s bill, however, translating into a law are very bleak because there is not enough support available to back the bill making it a law in near future. Furthermore, the majority of Conservatives in the Senate also leaves the bill with scant chances of approval as law.

The overall number of immigrants admitted will not increase if the bill becomes a law. United States have a diversity visa scheme for residents of those countries which have a very low influx of migrants to United States. The proposed 55,000 visas will replace the equivalent number of diversity visas.

The proposed immigration bill is aimed at creating a pool of high tech foreign professionals who have obtained their degrees from the research institutions in United States with job offers in the fields relevant to their education.

Currently United States have 20,000 H1-B visas reserved for foreign nationals graduating from the United States obtaining Master’s or higher degree each year. The H1-B visas require a job offer from a US employer in the field which is closely related to what they have studied in US. About 5000 more H1-B slots are available for this years cap.

Tags: H1-B visa, Immigration, Immigration bill, Profesional visa, Temporary Visa, United States