On December 7, 2022, the House of Representatives was scheduled to vote on H.R. 3648, the Equal Access to Green Cards for Legal Employment (EAGLE) Act, but the vote has reportedly been pushed into next week. The EAGLE Act proposes a number of changes to the employment-based immigration system in an effort to alleviate the immigrant visa backlog, including eliminating the “per country” limitation on employment-based immigrant visas, or green cards, over a nine-year transition period. This will be particularly beneficial to green card applicants born in China and India who are subject to the longest employment-based immigrant visa backlogs.
The Act also aims to permit foreign nationals who have been waiting in the immigrant visa backlog for two years to file green card applications and reserve a certain amount of green cards for nurses and physical therapists.
A number of immigration advocacy groups have also come out in support of the EAGLE Act since it was first introduced last year. Earlier this week, the White House issued a statement in support of passage of the EAGLE Act. In a statement released by the Executive Office of the President, Office of Management & Budget, the Administration confirmed that it “supports House passage of H.R. 3648, the Equal Access to Green Cards for Legal Employment (EAGLE) Act, and its goal of allowing U.S. employers to focus on hiring immigrants based on merit, not their birthplace, by eliminating the “per country” limitation on employment-based immigrant visas (green cards).”
However, some advocacy groups feel that eliminating per-country limitations could negatively impact countries that have not historically experienced long waits for the green card. In an email newsletter this week, ILW.com opposed H.R. 3748, noting that passage of the law would increase the green card wait time for countries other than India and China by about 15 years and adversely impact the EB5 Immigrant Investor Program. The American Immigration Lawyers Association has also spoken out against H.R. 3748 stating that, “the EAGLE Act does not strike the right balance of eliminating per-country limitations without adversely impacting others. Therefore, AILA does not support the bill’s passage and urges Congress to find an equitable solution for all individuals waiting for lawful permanent residence.”
Graham Adair is monitoring the situation closely and will provide an update should the EAGLE Act be put to a vote next week.