又开始要拿STEM忽悠人了# EB23 - 劳工卡
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09/15/2012: House Democrats Introduced 09/14/2012 Another STEM Immigration
Bill of 2012
Yesterday, Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California introduced H.R. 6412 "Attracting
the Best and Brightest Act of 2012" in the House to grant immigration status
to STEM major foreign brains. Accordingly, two STEM bills of two different
parties will more or less contest each other in the House. What does it mean
? The chance for Rep. Smith's STEM bill to pass the House by voice vote in
suspension of rule on next Friday may not work well as Democrats may request
roll call votes that require two thirds of yeas to pass. By the way, one of
the co-sponsors of the Smith bill is the House majority leader, explaining
how the Smith bill would be so quickly placed on the House floor next Friday
under the suspension of rules calendar. Smith bill has yet to be introduced
in the House. Why all of sudden STEM immigration legislation turns into the
spotlight? Remember that over 150 universities petitioned a few days back
and there have been growing pressure from the high tech businesses. Remember
also that the national election is less than two months away!
For the unofficial full text and summary of H.R. 6412, please click here.
09/14/2012: House Republicans to Push STEM Jobs Act of 2012 Next Friday
Rep. Lamar Smith is sponsoring this bill and the House floor is scheduled to
take up this bill on suspension of rules calendar for voice vote on 09/21/
2012, assumedly the last day of the Congressional session before the
Congress will go into recess for the national election.
Report indicates that the bill will propose elimination of diversity visa,
replaced by STEM immigration program granting 55,000 STEM advance degree
holders green cards. This bill sounds very similar to Rep. Isaa's bill which
is already pending in the House. According to the report, the bill is
likely to include the following proposals:
An individual must have earned a doctorate or a master's degree from a U.S.
university in order to be eligible for the visa. Those who took courses
online also qualify, but they must be physically present in the U.S.
Employers must petition for the visas on behalf of job candidates. A U.S.
employer that wants to hire a foreign national and secure a green card for
that individual must go through a labor certification process, similar to
what is now used in employment-based green cards, to show that there are no
qualified U.S. citizens who are available for the job.
The visa candidate must agree to work for at least five years for the
petitioning employer, or in a STEM field.
The visas will be limited to foreign nationals who earned degrees at Ph.D.-
granting universities with high levels of research activity.
First preference goes to people who hold doctorates. Any unused visas are
then made available to people with master's degrees.
One information which is missing is whether the 55,000 STEM visas will be
subject to per country limitation under the current statute. Considering the
fact that there will be a short Lame Duck session after the election and
before this 112th Congress sunsets at the end of the year, the chance of
this bill is anybody's guess. We will monitor development of this bill next
week.
Bill of 2012
Yesterday, Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California introduced H.R. 6412 "Attracting
the Best and Brightest Act of 2012" in the House to grant immigration status
to STEM major foreign brains. Accordingly, two STEM bills of two different
parties will more or less contest each other in the House. What does it mean
? The chance for Rep. Smith's STEM bill to pass the House by voice vote in
suspension of rule on next Friday may not work well as Democrats may request
roll call votes that require two thirds of yeas to pass. By the way, one of
the co-sponsors of the Smith bill is the House majority leader, explaining
how the Smith bill would be so quickly placed on the House floor next Friday
under the suspension of rules calendar. Smith bill has yet to be introduced
in the House. Why all of sudden STEM immigration legislation turns into the
spotlight? Remember that over 150 universities petitioned a few days back
and there have been growing pressure from the high tech businesses. Remember
also that the national election is less than two months away!
For the unofficial full text and summary of H.R. 6412, please click here.
09/14/2012: House Republicans to Push STEM Jobs Act of 2012 Next Friday
Rep. Lamar Smith is sponsoring this bill and the House floor is scheduled to
take up this bill on suspension of rules calendar for voice vote on 09/21/
2012, assumedly the last day of the Congressional session before the
Congress will go into recess for the national election.
Report indicates that the bill will propose elimination of diversity visa,
replaced by STEM immigration program granting 55,000 STEM advance degree
holders green cards. This bill sounds very similar to Rep. Isaa's bill which
is already pending in the House. According to the report, the bill is
likely to include the following proposals:
An individual must have earned a doctorate or a master's degree from a U.S.
university in order to be eligible for the visa. Those who took courses
online also qualify, but they must be physically present in the U.S.
Employers must petition for the visas on behalf of job candidates. A U.S.
employer that wants to hire a foreign national and secure a green card for
that individual must go through a labor certification process, similar to
what is now used in employment-based green cards, to show that there are no
qualified U.S. citizens who are available for the job.
The visa candidate must agree to work for at least five years for the
petitioning employer, or in a STEM field.
The visas will be limited to foreign nationals who earned degrees at Ph.D.-
granting universities with high levels of research activity.
First preference goes to people who hold doctorates. Any unused visas are
then made available to people with master's degrees.
One information which is missing is whether the 55,000 STEM visas will be
subject to per country limitation under the current statute. Considering the
fact that there will be a short Lame Duck session after the election and
before this 112th Congress sunsets at the end of the year, the chance of
this bill is anybody's guess. We will monitor development of this bill next
week.
