Visa Bulletin – March 2024

March Visa Bulletin for the FY 2024 was released few days. Here are key insights and updates to it with some predictions.

How to use Demand Data to calculate EB3 to EB2 Porting?

As per visa allocation each year under each category, USCIS/DOL should use 233 visas every month for EB2-India. Normally this should reduce demand by 233 every month. Since we are not seeing any reduction in demand data, it suggests that there are many individuals who are upgrading their case from EB3 to EB2. So what is the rate at which EB3 to EB2 porting is happening? Simple Calculations that could be used to estimate this is ...

EB3 to EB2 Porting with same employer: Not a good idea

These days it is been topic of the town for Indian nationals to port their priority date from EB3 to EB2 category. So far this totally makes sense. This could tremendously reduce the wait time for an individual to receive a green card. But an individual and his employer should be very careful while taking this step if they are planning to port the case with a same (current) employer. There are rumors that many employers are upgrading their employees’ petition from EB3 to EB2 category just to retain their employees.

I-485 Case Tracker for PDs 'Current'

We have released new I-485 case tracker for cases that are 'Current' today. Please use this tracker to enter details of your application and case status. Please fill in as much details as possible and edit the tracker as and when you will get more information on your application status. Use this tracker to see if PDs that has recently became current are getting approved

January 2012 I-485 Pending Inventory - EB Category Visa Use

USCIS released I-485 pending inventory upto 12 January 2012. Please note this inventory is only for Service Centers and Field Offices, and does not contain consular processing cases. Dependents are included. Here is a summary of the I-485 inventory when compared to October 2011 Inventory. This inventory is used to estimate the visa use during Q1 of FY 2012 and Projected Demand for FY 2012.Please note that one fallacy to using inventory to estimate demand is that it will not consider cases approved in less than 90 days.

EB Category Roll-Over and PWMB Demand: I-485 Receipt Data

We analyzed I-485 Approvals and Receipts for FY 2011 to estimate carry-over demand from FY 2011 in EB category. We also used this data in conjunction with USCIS I-485 Performance data and I-485 representative filings from June to September 2011 at trackitt to estimate People Who Missed the Boat (PWMB) demand for EB2-IC upto September 2011 that may start consuming visa numbers from FY 2012 annual allocation and/or spillover.

Prediction for EB2 Category for FY 2012

Here is the Prediction for EB2 Category cutoff date retrogression for Fiscal Year 2012. Basis for this prediction is simple calculations (see below) which is done based on available data i.e. PERM data published by DOL, I-485 Inventory data, latest trend on Trackitt for EB1 & EB2 cases and other published data by USCIS. Demand data for each dependent category is predicted and explained in calculations below. This data is further used to calculate spillover that would be available for EB2 category. Retrogression is estimated based on visa allotment available each year for each country and total spillover that is expected in FY 2012. In each case, Optimistic, Realistic and Worst-Case scenario is estimated.

Green Card Calculator - Employment Based

As per recent demand data released until September 01, 2011 on EB I-485 inventory, here is the 'Green Card' calculator for Employment- Based category that tells an individual how many I-485 applicants are there before them in the queue under their filed preference category. Beyond this, calculations are extended to predict how many years will it take an individual to receive a green card. In addition, you can put an assumption for a spillover that your category and country would receive every year and see how this changes the scenario.

What to do once Priority Date (PD) becomes current?

A very commonly asked question by fellow petitioners is the step by step process that they should follow after an individual’s Priority date will become current. Please read this article to check on next steps and required I-485 documents.

I-485 Primary & Secondary Evidence - Country Specific

Commonly asked question is what to do when primary evidence of birth, marriage, divorce etc is not available. Here is the country specific I-485 Required documents for (AOS) or (CP). Immigration officers or Adjudicators are asked to refer to the list below before making any decision on RFE or NOID in case primary evidence is not submitted or established. Please select your country from the drop-down list to see specific secondary evidence and documents.

EB2-India & China I-140 Demand (Yearly) based on DHS Released Report

DHS on 29th December 2011 released a Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman's recommendation to improve the quality in Extraordinary Ability and Other Employment based petition adjudication document. We used this data to deduce I-140 demand for EB2-India and China.

EB2-IC Movements FY 2012 - Mr. Oppenheim's thinking?

We looked into if there is any analytical correlation between movements that Mr. Oppenheim did last year for Family Based Category (F2A) and current movement that we saw with EB2-India and China for Employment Based Category. Is there any correlation or equation or factor that can determine how Mr. Oppenheim would think in absence of demand or visible demand in case number of filings that he is receiving or available adjudicated case cases are less? That is when we started digging into this.

AC21 Portability - FAQs and Sample Letters to USCIS

Some people suggests that sending letter to USCIS on job change after invoking AC-21 portability is not required. But this is a gray area, and no one knows it better if USCIS should be informed when individual would invoke an AC-21 portability to change job once applicant's I-485 is pending for more than 180 days with USCIS.

Understanding Section 245(k) to use it for Derivative applicants after Primary’s I-485 approval

Common question asked by many primary I-485 applicants who had previously filed I-485 Adjustment of Status (AOS) application, which is still pending with USCIS, is about adding their spouses or children (derivatives) to their pending I-485 application. At this point there is always a concern among the petitioner that their case will be approved before their derivatives application

July 2012 Visa Bulletin Predictions - EB Category

Here is the prediction for July 2012 Visa Bulletin. We should see following movements in each category as long as USCIS/DOL would use visa numbers as per statutory allocations.

EB2 India & China - What to expect in FY 2012?

Cut-Off Dates has reached PD 15th April 2007 for EB2-India and China for FY 2011 in September bulletin, now what can we expect for FY 2012?. We have some analysis to estimate movement in FY 2012. This is very rudimentary as of now and can change as FY 2012 will progress.

EB3 ROW-Mexico-Philippines - What to expect in FY 2012?

For FY 2012, EB3-ROW-M-P is expected to move together similar to the movement that was seen for FY 2011. Based on available I-485 inventory, last released demand data, and hidden demand (or Consular Processing demand) that was observed in FY 2011, total EB3-M-P demand until ....

How to know if old I-140 has been revoked by previous employer?

If an individual filing a green card under employment-based category has changed job and now planning to port priority date from previous filed Labor certification, he/she will at least need an approved I-140 from previous employer to recapture priority dates. This I-140 should not be revoked and still active.

Understanding Visa Bulletin Cut-Off Date Determination

The State Department (DOS) is responsible for the allocation of numerically limited immigrant visa numbers under the authority granted by section 203 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). These visa numbers are allocated based on congressionally mandated preferences that assign an overall total, limits for each category and per country limits within each category. Here is a quick Memo on the steps involved.

'Hard' vs 'Soft' LUD - How to use it to track your case status with USCIS?

If you heard people talking about keeping track of 'Soft' and 'Hard' LUDs on forums and other websites, and wondered what it is, now you can understand what is LUDs and how you can use them to track any activity on your petition that is pending with USCIS.

How to Obtain an Emergency Advance Parole (AP) Document?

If your current status is Adjustment of Status (AOS) Pending and you are currently working on EAD, it is very important that you renew your Advance Parole (AP) document in timely manner, well in advance. If an individual leaves a country under AOS pending status with their AP application pending or AP document due expire when they are traveling outside of country, they will abandon their status in United Status. Subsequently their I-485 application will be denied.

People Who Missed the Boat (PWMB) during July 2007

Question was asked in the comment section that how would applications with Priority date before July 2007 who could not file in July 2007 would affect EB2-IC movement for FY 2011. These people are commonly referred as "People Who Missed the Boat (PWMB)" by some people. We earlier thought that these numbers will small percentage of the whole group. But careful analysis of PERM data suggests that these numbers are significant when you will include primary + dependents (assuming a family would consume 2.5 visas) applications.

EB3 to EB2 Porting Calculations - Part III

We have a poll on EB3 to EB2 Porting which is up since last week of February 2011, and till-date we have received '445' votes. Results has been consistent through out the poll for the last two months. It suggests that the general trend or distribution of individuals with different PD that are porting has not changed from day to day regardless of number of votes received.We are convinced that this will be a general trend for rest of the current year regardless of porting numbers. Calculations are further extended to extrapolate real world numbers.

H1B FY 2012 CAP Count & Predictions

As per recent release by USCIS, regular cap has utilized till date 11,200 visas and Masters quota has utilized 7,900 visas as of 13th May 2011. It is interesting to see that H1B visa under Master Cap has utilized more than 35% of the quota. As of now number of petitions increased from last week is 1,600. Based on past months trend, regular cap can reach by 27th January 2012 and Masters Cap by 30 September 2011.

H1B FY 2012 : List of Disqualified Employers

H1B FY 2012 season will be here soon. It is advisable that the prospective aspirants for H1B FY 2012 should be aware of the debarred or disqualified employer for this season. Please make sure you do not become a bait to any of these employers for your H1B filing. These employers are willful violator employer and are black-listed.

PERM Processing Time Starts to Slump

DOL recently released current PERM processing times. It looks like fire-sale is almost over and PERM processing time will again start creeping towards 1-2 months wait or more in coming months. 5 days approval will be a history. Temporary Government shutdown is still not in effect and this will delay the processing time further when some decision about it will be made during April 8, 2011. The Senate votes to fund the federal government through April 8. But the stalemate over 2011 spending remains, and no one wants to pass another short-term stopgap. Is the stage now set for a government shutdown next month is yet to be known.

Document on Tax Exemption for OPT Students and Students on F1B visa

Document or proof stating that OPT students are not required to pay Social Security Taxes and Medicare tax. You can share this with your employer

What is H1B 'CAP Exempt' visa?

Most of the international students after graduation would focus their attention to find a job in corporate world. But it is always difficult to find an employer who will be ready to sponsor your H1B visa. If you are lucky, you may find an employer who is willing to sponsor your work visa, but could not do it because quota is not available at that time or if quota is open, is worried that he may have to wait until start of fiscal year in October before you could begin working for him. What are other options in such case? Well in this case, you can opt for working for organizations that are exempted from H1B visa regular cap quota.

Showing posts with label DV. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DV. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

2012 DIVERSITY LOTTERY PROGRAM Results Voided

Posted On Tuesday, May 17, 2011 by Rav 0 comments


**IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING THE 2012 DIVERSITY LOTTERY PROGRAM**

We regret to inform you that, due to a computer programming problem, the results of the 2012 Diversity Lottery that were previously posted on this website have been voided. They were not valid and were posted in error. The results were not valid because they did not represent a fair, random selection of entrants, as required by U.S. law.

If you checked this website during the first week in May and found a notice that you had been selected for further processing or a notice that you had not been selected, that notice has been rescinded and is no longer valid.

A new selection process will be conducted based on the original entries for the 2012 program.

If you submitted a qualified entry from October 5, 2010 to November 3, 2010, your entry remains with us. It will be included in the new selection lottery. Your confirmation number to check results on this website is still valid.

We expect the results of the new selection process to be available on this website on or about July 15, 2011.

We regret any inconvenience this might have caused.

Transcript:

“Hello, my name is David Donahue. As the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Visa Services here at the U.S. Department of State, I oversee our visa program.

Every year, the Diversity Visa Lottery generates excitement around the world, as entrants hope to be selected for the chance to apply for an immigrant visa to the United States. Some people have already logged on to our Entry Status Check website to view this year’s selection results. Regrettably, the results that were previously posted on this website are not valid. They were posted in error.

These results are not valid because they did not represent a fair, random selection of entrants as required by U.S. law. Although we received large numbers of entries every day during the 30-day registration period, a computer programming error caused more than 90% of the selectees to come from the first two days of the registration period. The computer error that caused this unfair, non-random result has since been corrected. We sincerely regret any inconvenience or disappointment this problem might have caused.

Because this problem unfairly disadvantaged many Diversity Visa Lottery entrants, we will conduct a new, random selection. The new selection will be based on the original entries. If you submitted a qualified entry in 2010 between October 5 and November 3, you do not need to reapply. Your confirmation number to check results on this website is still valid.

We expect the results of the new selection process to be available on the DV Entry Status Check website on or about July 15, 2011. More information is available on our website:

http://dvlottery.state.gov

Again, we sincerely regret any inconvenience or disappointment this problem might have caused. Thank you.”

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Why was it necessary to invalidate the names that were selected?

  • U.S. law requires that Diversity Immigrant visas be made available through a strictly random process. A computer programming error resulted in a selection that was not truly random.

  • Since the computer programming error caused an outcome that was not random, the outcome did not meet the requirements of the law, and would have been unfair to many DV entrants.

Q: Is the 2012 Diversity Visa Program cancelled?

  • No. The 2012 program will continue. The computer programming error has been identified and corrected. The Department of State will run a new selection using all the qualified entries (ones received between October 5, 2010 and November 3, 2010) it received for the 2012 program.

Q: Do I have to submit a new application?

  • No. You may not submit a new application. We will use all qualified entries received during the October 5 to November 3, 2010 registration period.

Q: Will you open a new entry period?

  • New entries will not be accepted.

Q: I checked the Entry Status Check website after May 1 and it said I had been selected. Can I apply for a DV visa?

  • Unfortunately results previously posted on this website were not valid because the selection process was not fair or random. We will take the entries of all individuals who sent in their registration during the original October 5 to November 3, 2010 time period and run a new lottery. We regret any inconvenience or disappointment this has caused. We expect new results to be available on this website on or about July 15, 2011.

Q: How can I check the results of the new selection?

  • The new results should be available on this website on or about July 15, 2011. The confirmation code you received when you registered is still valid for use on the website.

Q: Was the Department of State hacked? Was my personal information at risk?

  • We have no evidence that this problem was caused by any intentional act. No unauthorized party accessed data related to the DV program.

This appears to be solely the result of a computer programming error.


Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Diversity Visa Scams - Sample Email Attached

Posted On Wednesday, March 09, 2011 by Rav 2 comments

I received this email today saying that I have been selected for DV program. Please be aware that this is a scam that is going on all over the internet. Please see sample e-mail below that I received in the email.

Fraudsters will frequently e-mail potential victims posing as State Department or other government officials with requests to wire or transfer money online as part of a “processing fee.” You should never transfer money to anyone who e-mails you claiming that you have won the Diversity Visa (DV) lottery or been selected for a Green Card.

These e-mails are designed to steal money from unsuspecting victims. The senders often use phony e-mail addresses and logos designed to make them look more like official government correspondence. One easy way to tell they are a fraud is that the e-mail address does not end with a “.gov”.

Be Aware of Diversity Visa Scams

Individuals have contacted U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) about fraudulent e-mails and letters saying they have been selected in the Diversity Visa program. The scammers pose as the U.S. government in an attempt to get money from people hoping to get a visa.

U.S. Department of State runs the Diversity Visa Program and has excellent information on how to protect yourself against these scammers. To educate yourself about the Diversity Visa program visit the Department of State website. For information on avoiding other types of immigration scams, visit our Don't be a Victim webpage.

See this Blog


Thursday, February 17, 2011

Senator Goodlatte introduced bill to eliminate the DV Lottery Program

Posted On Thursday, February 17, 2011 by Rav 2 comments

Senator Goodlatte of Virginia introduced bill in the house to eliminate the diversity immigrant lottery program. Senator Issa had previously introduced similar bill in House to eliminate DV program and allocate these visa numbers towards issuing permanent residence to Science and Medical students who have earned advanced degree from an American University. These are two bills that are introduced back to back to eliminate DV program.

Here is the actual speech from Senator GoodLatte and text of the bill H.R. 704

SPEECH OF
HON. BOB GOODLATTE
OF VIRGINIA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2011

* Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce the bipartisan ``Security and Fairness Enhancement (SAFE) for America Act.'' This much-needed legislation eliminates the controversial visa lottery program, through which 50,000 aliens are chosen at random to come and live permanently in the United States based on pure luck. The visa lottery program threatens national security, results in the unfair administration of our Nation's immigration laws, and encourages a cottage industry for fraudulent opportunists.

* Because winners of the visa lottery are chosen at random, the visa lottery program presents a serious national security threat. A perfect example of the system gone awry is the case of Hesham Mohamed Ali Hedayet, the Egyptian national who killed two and wounded three during a shooting spree at Los Angeles International Airport in July of 2002. He was allowed to apply for lawful permanent resident status in 1997 because of his wife's status as a visa lottery winner.

* The State Department's Inspector General has even weighed in on the national security threat posed by the visa lottery program. During testimony before the House Committee on the Judiciary, the Office of Inspector General stated that the Office ``continues to believe that the diversity visa program contains significant risks to national security from hostile intelligence officers, criminals, and terrorists attempting to use the program for entry into the United States as permanent residents.''

* Even if improvements were made to the visa lottery program, nothing would prevent terrorist organizations or foreign intelligence agencies from planting members in the U.S. by having those members apply for the program. As long as those individuals do not have previous criminal backgrounds, these types of organized efforts would never be detected, even if significant background checks and counter-fraud measures were enacted within the program.

* Usually, immigrant visas are issued to foreign nationals that have existing connections with family members lawfully residing in the United States or with U.S. employers. These types of relationships help ensure that immigrants entering our country have a stake in continuing America's success and have needed skills to contribute to our Nation's economy. However, under the visa lottery program, visas are awarded to immigrants at random without meeting such criteria.

* In addition, the visa lottery program is unfair to immigrants who comply with the United States' immigration laws. The visa lottery program does not expressly prohibit illegal aliens from applying to receive visas through the program. Thus, the program treats foreign nationals that comply with our laws the same as those that blatantly violate our laws. In addition, most family-sponsored immigrants currently face a wait of years to obtain visas, yet the lottery program pushes 50,000 random immigrants with no particular family ties, job skills or education ahead of these family and employer-sponsored immigrants each year with relatively no wait. This sends the wrong message to those who wish to enter our great country and to the international community as a whole.

* Furthermore, the visa lottery program is wrought with fraud. A report released by the Center for Immigration Studies states that it is commonplace for foreign nationals to apply for the lottery program multiple times using many different aliases. In addition, the visa lottery program has spawned a cottage industry featuring sponsors in the U.S. who falsely promise success to applicants in exchange for large sums of money. Ill-informed foreign nationals are willing to pay top dollar for the ``guarantee'' of lawful permanent resident status in the U.S.

* The State Department's Office of Inspector General confirms these allegations of widespread fraud in a September 2003 report. Specifically, the report states that the visa lottery program is ``subject to widespread abuse'' and that ``identity fraud is endemic, and fraudulent documents are commonplace.'' Furthermore, the report also reveals that the State Department found that 364,000 duplicate applications were detected in the 2003 visa lottery alone.

* In addition, the visa lottery program is by its very nature discriminatory. The complex formula for assigning visas under the program arbitrarily disqualifies natives from countries that send more than 50,000 immigrants to the U.S. within a five-year period, which excludes nationals from countries such as Brazil, Canada, India, the Philippines and others.

* The visa lottery program represents what is wrong with our country's immigration system. My legislation would eliminate the visa lottery program. The removal of this controversial program will help ensure our Nation's security, make the administration of our immigration


H. R. 704

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to eliminate the diversity immigrant program.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

February 15, 2011

Mr. GOODLATTE (for himself, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. WOLF, Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado, Mr. CONAWAY, Mr. MARCHANT, Mrs. MYRICK, Mr. GALLEGLY, Mr. KING of Iowa, Mr. WEST, and Mr. BILBRAY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary


A BILL

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to eliminate the diversity immigrant program.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as--
      (1) the `Security and Fairness Enhancement for America Act of 2011'; or
      (2) the `SAFE for America Act'.

SEC. 2. ELIMINATION OF DIVERSITY IMMIGRANT PROGRAM.

    (a) Worldwide Level of Diversity Immigrants- Section 201 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1151) is amended--
      (1) in subsection (a)--
        (A) by inserting `and' at the end of paragraph (1);
        (B) by striking `; and' at the end of paragraph (2) and inserting a period; and
        (C) by striking paragraph (3); and
      (2) by striking subsection (e).
    (b) Allocation of Diversity Immigrant Visas- Section 203 of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1153) is amended--
      (1) by striking subsection (c);
      (2) in subsection (d), by striking `(a), (b), or (c),' and inserting `(a) or (b),';
      (3) in subsection (e), by striking paragraph (2) and redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (2);
      (4) in subsection (f), by striking `(a), (b), or (c)' and inserting `(a) or (b)'; and
      (5) in subsection (g), by striking `(a), (b), and (c)' and inserting `(a) and (b)'.
    (c) Procedure for Granting Immigrant Status- Section 204 of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1154) is amended--
      (1) by striking subsection (a)(1)(I); and
      (2) in subsection (e), by striking `(a), (b), or (c)' and inserting `(a) or (b)'.
    (d) Effective Date- The amendments made by this section shall take effect on October 1, 2011.


Friday, January 7, 2011

Bill in House to Eliminate DV Lottery Program and Reallocate Visa Numbers to Employment Based Green Card

Posted On Friday, January 07, 2011 by Rav 4 comments

Recently Senator Issa (R-CA) introduced a bill in house to eliminate the diversity immigrant program and to re-allocate those visas to certain employment-based immigrants who obtain an advanced degree in the United States in field of science or medicine. According to proposed bill visas shall be made available, in a number not to exceed 55,000, to qualified immigrants who--
  • are a member of a profession holding an advanced degree obtained within the United States;
  • ·obtained such degree within the United States during the 5-year period preceding the date on which the petition filed under section 204(a)(1)(F) for classification under this subparagraph is filed; or has resided continuously in the United States in a lawful nonimmigrant status since obtaining such degree; and
  • whose services in the sciences or medicine

Why Introducing this Bill a good idea?

The diversity visa program applicant need not be skilled, professional, have an advanced degree or in an occupation that US is in dearth of. They are just picked randomly. When they come to US they may not be able to contribute to the economy immediately. It should be noted that to qualify for a Diversity Visa, you only need a high school education or its equivalent or to qualify on the basis of your work experience, individual must, within the past five years, have two years of experience in an occupation that is designated as Job Zone 4 or 5, classified in a Specific Vocational Preparation (SVP) range of 7.0 or higher. Additionally it is also limited to certain countries that are poorly represented yet in the US. People from countries such as Philippines, Mexico and other nationalities are automatically not included in the list as a result. This program was good when it was first enacted to encourage more diversity but since then US has been a melting pot of vastly diversified population, so this may not be necessary any more. There is no doubt that America needs talented and skilled workers in science and medicine for continuous economic growth to keep their competitive edge over other countries. It doesn't make sense for an individual who has studied in an US University and currently employed by an US employer to go back home and compete with US companies rather than staying here and contributing towards innovation in their field.

Will this bill pass in House?

Number of Bills to stop the Diversity Visa category has been introduced in Congress regularly almost since the DV program started with the last Comprehensive Immigration Reform in 1989. None of these bills have ever made it very far in House. So in my opinion, readers should not be disappointed if this bill is killed in the House once again.

You can read complete text of the H.R.43.IH Bill here.


Saturday, October 3, 2009

Bill Introduced in House to Eliminate Diversity Immigration Visa and Allocate the Numbers to EB based category for individuals with Advanced Degree

Posted On Saturday, October 03, 2009 by Rav 0 comments

A bill has been introduced in House to eliminate Diversity Immigration Visa , referred as DV lottery, and allocate the numbers to EB based category for individuals with Advanced Degree. This bill is much wanted step to overhaul employment based immigration. Professional who have obtained advanced degree in US Universities, and are stuck in limbo due to numbers unavailable will benefit from this bill. To qualify for these numbers individuals should be employed in a profession related to science and mathematics that requires advanced degree, and should be working in US since they graduated.

Details of the Bill

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to eliminate the diversity immigrant program and to re-allocate those visas to certain employment-based immigrants who obtain an advanced... (Introduced in House)

HR 3687 IH

111th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. R. 3687

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to eliminate the diversity immigrant program and to re-allocate those visas to certain employment-based immigrants who obtain an advanced degree in the United States.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

October 1, 2009

Mr. ISSA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to eliminate the diversity immigrant program and to re-allocate those visas to certain employment-based immigrants who obtain an advanced degree in the United States.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. ELIMINATION OF DIVERSITY IMMIGRANT PROGRAM.

(a) Worldwide Level of Diversity Immigrants- Section 201 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1151) is amended--

(1) in subsection (a)--

(A) by inserting `and' at the end of paragraph (1);

(B) by striking `; and' at the end of paragraph (2) and inserting a period; and

(C) by striking paragraph (3); and

(2) by striking subsection (e).

(b) Allocation of Diversity Immigrant Visas- Section 203 of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1153) is amended--

(1) by striking subsection (c);

(2) in subsection (d), by striking `(a), (b), or (c),' and inserting `(a) or (b),';

(3) in subsection (e), by striking paragraph (2) and redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (2);

(4) in subsection (f), by striking `(a), (b), or (c)' and inserting `(a) or (b)'; and

(5) in subsection (g), by striking `(a), (b), and (c)' and inserting `(a) and (b)'.

(c) Procedure for Granting Immigrant Status- Section 204 of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1154) is amended--

(1) by striking subsection (a)(1)(I); and

(2) in subsection (e), by striking `(a), (b), or (c)' and inserting `(a) or (b)'.

SEC. 2. VISAS FOR CERTAIN EMPLOYMENT-BASED IMMIGRANTS WHO OBTAIN AN ADVANCED DEGREE IN THE UNITED STATES.

(a) In General- Section 203(b)(2) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(2)) is amended by adding at the end the following:

`(D) CERTAIN ALIENS OBTAINING ADVANCED DEGREES IN THE UNITED STATES- Visas shall be made available, in a number not to exceed 55,000, to qualified immigrants who--

`(i) are a member of a profession holding an advanced degree obtained within the United States;

`(ii)(I) obtained such degree within the United States during the 5-year period preceding the date on which the petition filed under section 204(a)(1)(F) for classification under this subparagraph is filed; or

`(II) has resided continuously in the United States in a lawful nonimmigrant status since obtaining such degree; and

`(iii) whose services in the sciences or medicine--

`(I) are sought by an employer in the United States; and

`(II) will substantially benefit prospectively the national economy of the United States.'.

(b) Numerical Limitation-

(1) IN GENERAL- Section 201(d) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1151(d)) is amended by adding at the end the following:

`(3) Aliens described in section 203(b)(2)(D) may be issued visas or may otherwise acquire the status of an alien lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence in a number not to exceed 55,000 in any fiscal year.'.

(2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT- Section 201(a)(2) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1151(a)(2)) is amended by striking `and not to exceed' and inserting `and, excluding immigrants described in section 203(b)(2)(D), not to exceed'.

SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.

The amendments made by this Act shall take effect on October 1, 2009.