US government’s Eagle Act that could benefit Indian immigrants
What is Eagle Act?
The Eagle Act, also known as the Equal Access to Green Cards for Legal Employment Act of 2022, was introduced in the US House of Representatives by Zoe Lofgren, which aims to adjust work visa requirements and phase out caps from country to country. about employment-based green cards.
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The goal of the Eagle Act is to allow US employers to hire international professionals based on their merit, not their country of birth. It abolishes the limited contingents of work visas, ie green cards, allocated to individual countries. This would help ensure that suitable candidates from other countries are not excluded when the Eagle Act comes into force. During the transition period, visas would be reserved for nurses and physiotherapists to meet the needs of the healthcare sector. The visa offers the same provisions for immigrants arriving in the United States and their dependents who are not currently in the United States.
About the green card and its advantages
Officially known as the Permanent Resident Card, the Green Card allows immigrants to live and work in the United States permanently. The card serves as proof that the holder has been granted the right of permanent residence.
Some of the benefits of a green card are –
- It provides a path to citizenship
- A green card holder can sponsor immediate family members for the same card
- It offers easy access to the US Social Security system as well as educational assistance
- Traveling in and out of the country is much easier
- The cardholder can choose to live anywhere in the US
- There is more freedom in terms of career opportunities to apply for a variety of jobs
- The cardholder can also participate to some extent in the country’s political process.
- This card provides easy access to the social security system offered by the US government
- It also offers selective participation in the country’s political activities.
Objectives of the Eagle Act or HR 3648
The Eagle Act of 2022 will also strengthen the H-1B visa program for specialty occupations. This would be accomplished by increasing hiring requirements, strengthening protections for US workers, and increasing transparency.
Applicants who have been waiting for their visa application for the past 2 years can apply for a Green Card. Allows foreign nationals coming to the US for employment to change their temporary visas. It also offers them additional regulations when changing jobs or founding a company.
The bill aims to allow U.S. employers “to focus on hiring immigrants based on merit, not place of birth, by removing on-the-spot restrictions on employment-based immigrant visas (green cards).” To mitigate the impact on less populated countries and to ensure that eligible immigrants from those countries are not excluded from the implementation of the law, the legislation provides for country-specific caps to be phased out over a period of nine years. During the transition period, approved by the President’s Executive Office, some visas will be deferred for physical therapists and nurses to meet health care needs and “for employed immigrants and their dependents who are not currently in the United States.”
Another goal of the EAGLE 2022 Act is to improve the H-1B visa program for specialty trades. This would be achieved, among other things, by tightening hiring requirements, strengthening protections for American workers and increasing transparency. HR 3648 also contains important provisions that allow people who have waited two years for an immigrant visa to apply for a green card. Although applications could not be approved until visas are available, it would allow working immigrants to switch from their temporary visas and give them additional flexibility to change employers or start a business,” the statement said.
Benefits of Indian Immigrants with the Coming Eagle Act
There are 140,000 employment-based green cards available, and country-specific restrictions have pushed the backlog into the millions. The CATO 2022 report highlights that almost all backward immigrants are from India. According to a 2020 CATO report in the United States, 75 percent of the job stock was held by skilled Indian workers. In particular, if everyone could stay in line, backward Indian workers would wait nine decades before they could get a green card.
A 2020 report also said that “More than 200,000 petitions filed for Indians may expire because workers die of old age before receiving green cards.
In addition to the law limiting the number of green cards an immigrant can get from any place of birth, the reason Indians are waiting so much longer is because of employers petitioning far more for Indians than the borders allow.
However, given the current situation, even if the country-specific cap were removed, it would still take more than a decade for each employer-sponsored immigrant. As such, country-specific restrictions are disadvantageous for Indians, while newer immigrants face a lifelong wait for green cards.
What is NomadLawyer’s Legal Department – Ignore at your own risk.
Nobody wants to be beaten up abroad. Before traveling abroad, find out about the local laws of your destination.
An important and often overlooked part of preparing for a trip is checking the local laws of your destination. If you travel to another country, you are subject to the laws of that country. Even if you unknowingly break these laws, you can be held responsible and pay the fines.
NomadLawyer’s Travel Laws section provides basic insight into local laws, consumer rules and rights related to travel, so you’re prepared the next time you book an airline ticket or hotel room.
In this section you will find articles about a place’s travel-related laws and unique or strange rules that a traveler must follow
If you have any questions about travel law, please contact us at [email protected]
Contributed by Ankit Raj Sharma
Edited by Imtiaz Ullah
