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This bill would change how visas are allocated to people from different countries. Specifically, it would eliminate the numerical limitation on issuing employment visas for people coming to the U.S. to work. It would also allow up to 15 percent of all the family visas issued to be for people from one country. The previous limit was 7 percent.

At least 10 percent of the employment visas given in 2016 go to people from countries that aren’t the two countries that received the most employment visas in 2012. The same 10 percent requirement would apply in 2017, except the comparison year would be 2015 rather than 2012. Basically, the bill would require that less than 90 percent of employment visas go to people from the same two countries.

The bill also sets limits on the number of transition and non-transition employment visas that can go to a single country. Specifically, no more than 25 percent of visas with transition periods could be issued to single country. For employment visas without transition periods, no more than 85 percent could be given to one country.

Additionally, the bill eliminates a provision in the Chinese Student Protection Act of 1992 that required a reduction in the number of visas issued to Chinese immigrants per year.

","official_title":"To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to eliminate the per-country numerical limitation for employment-based immigrants, to increase the per-country numerical limitation for family-sponsored immigrants, and for other purposes.","short_title":"Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2015","popular_title":null,"short_summary":"Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2015 \n\nAmends the Immigration and Nationality Act to: (1) eliminate the per country numerical limitation for employment-based immigrants, and (2) increase the per country numerical limitation for family based immigrants from 7% to 15% of the total number of family-sponsored visas.\n\nAmends the Chinese Student Protection Act of 1992 to eliminate the provision requiring the reduction of annual Chinese immigrant visas to offset status adjustments under such Act.\n\nSets forth the following transition period for employment-based second and third preference (EB-2 and EB-3) immigrant visas:\n\n for FY2015, 15% of such visas allotted to natives of countries other than the two countries with the largest aggregate numbers of natives obtaining such visas in FY2011; for FY2016, 10% of such visas allotted in each category to natives of countries other than the two with the largest aggregate numbers of natives obtaining such visas in FY2012; and for FY2017, 10%...","summarized":true,"cost":0,"cost_commentary":"A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.","impact":"People trying to acquire employment visas; people trying to acquire family visas; Chinese immigrants. 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","page_title":"Private Sector Legislation - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/private-sector/black_private-sector-1429042058.svg","grey":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/private-sector/grey_private-sector-1429042058.svg","white":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/private-sector/white_private-sector-1429042058.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false},{"id":"business","name":"Business","slug":"business","description":"Vote on the latest federal legislation regarding Business. Make your voice heard about the issues you care about. 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Congress should not make it harder for Americans to find jobs by increasing foreign competition. ","show_argument_for":false,"show_argument_against":true,"upvote_count":0,"upvotes_for_count":null,"upvotes_against_count":0,"has_upvoted":false,"endorsement_count":0,"links":{"self":"https://www.causes.com/positions/3249972b-d920-417e-801e-b8247fffeaf2"},"body":"Eliminating caps makes it much more difficult for the millions of unemployed and underemployed Americans looking for jobs. Congress should not make it harder for Americans to find jobs by increasing foreign competition. ","stance":"nay","created_at":"2015-08-03T19:23:51.187Z","shareable_image_url":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/positions/3249972b-d920-417e-801e-b8247fffeaf2.png","note_color":null,"note_text":null,"bill_id":"hr213-114","user_id":"A9GOqP9l","endorser_ids":[]}}

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Changing How Immigration Visas are Allocated