The bill for foreign high-tech talents to directly obtain green cards is expected to be passed by the end of the year

The bill for foreign high-tech talents to directly obtain green cards is expected to be passed by the end of the year. Congress is planning to pass the bill for foreign high-tech masters and doctoral students to directly obtain green cards by the end of next month, and cancel it at the same time...

Congress is planning to pass the bill for foreign high-tech masters and doctoral students to directly obtain green cards before the end of next month, and at the same time cancel the long-established "immigration lottery" method. The White House is actively considering supporting the case as a first step toward bipartisan cooperation on comprehensive immigration reform legislation next year.

Striving for foreign high-tech talents to stay and work in the United States is part of the immigration reform. Sources pointed out to this newspaper that the bill for foreign high-tech masters and doctorates to directly obtain green cards failed to pass before the House of Representatives election. After the election, there are plans to overturn the bill and make a comeback. Since this vote only requires a simple majority and the House of Representatives already has the ironclad votes, there is great hope.

When the House of Representatives voted on the case on September 20, the last week before the election, the vote failed due to the temporary defection of Democratic members. The case was proposed by Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (Republican, Texas), who decided to cancel the immigration lottery (diversity immigration) and transfer the 55,000 lottery immigration quotas each year to foreign high-tech doctors first. If the Ph.D.’s can’t use it up, it will be given to the Master’s degree.

At that time, due to the tight time before the election, it was decided to adopt a quick clearance method, so a two-thirds majority vote was required. Democratic congressmen once agreed that passing the border would not be a problem; but later they were unwilling to cancel other immigration quotas and began to oppose the case. In order to show that they are not opposed to the immigration of high-skilled people, at the last minute, the top Democratic member of the Judiciary Committee's Immigration Subcommittee, Zoe Lofgren (Calif.), proposed a bill similar to the Smith case, but that would not cancel the immigration lottery.

The case of Democratic members was not brought to a vote. The Smith case received 257 votes in favor. Although it was more than the 216 votes required for a majority, it was less than two-thirds.

The case plans to come back after the election. There is time for debate and voting during the lame duck Congress, so the case will follow normal procedures and can be passed with an ordinary majority.

It is understood that the new case will also allow spouses and minor children of US residents to wait for green cards in the United States.

The immigration case passed by the Senate many years ago allows high-tech masters to directly obtain green cards.

Since this case was proposed by Republican congressmen, the Democratic Party made some concessions and agreed to cooperate. This will not only benefit students, mainly from China and India, but also pave the way for bipartisan cooperation on comprehensive immigration reform.