Seyfarth Synopsis: On July 10, 2019, the
U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1044 – the
"Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019," on
the Suspension Calendar[1] with a bipartisan vote of 365-65. The
legislation, originally introduced by Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA),
would eliminate the existing "per-country cap" for
employment-based immigrants while also increasing the per-country
cap on family-based immigrant visas.
The current employment-based system for immigrant visas (i.e.
"green cards") is based on "per-country caps"
which set a cap, or quota, per-country at 7% of the total amount of
employment-based green cards issued annually by the United
States.[2] As
one employer-based coalition put it, "[t]his means that India
and China, which account for over 40% of the world's population
are allowed the same number of visas as Greenland, a country that
accounts for 0.001% of the world's population." For more
information on the operation of the per-country
