Eagle Act: Will It Soar Into Law?

The Equal Access to Green Cards for Legal Employment (EAGLE) Act of 2021 is a bipartisan bill that seeks to eliminate the 7% per-country cap on employment-based immigrant visas. The bill was introduced by U.S. Representatives Zoe Lofgren and John Curtis to address the issue of arbitrary delays in obtaining employment-based Green Cards, which can have significant personal and economic costs for immigrants and Americans alike.

The EAGLE Act aims to correct the problems with the current system by creating a merit-based process that prioritises skills over birthplace. It also includes enhanced protections for US workers and ensures that employers prioritise hiring Americans while also being able to recruit high-skilled workers from abroad.

The bill has been introduced in Congress multiple times under different names and has received bipartisan support, demonstrating its importance and relevance to the American immigration system.

The EAGLE Act phases out the 7% per-country cap on employment-based immigrant visas

The EAGLE Act will allow employers in the United States to focus on hiring immigrants based on their merits, rather than their birthplace. It will ease the backlog for those who wait the longest. The Act will reserve some green cards and establish a complex transition period before the employment-based per-country cap is completely eliminated, to ensure that immigrants from lower-admission countries do not face significantly increased wait times as a result of the bill.

The Act will also help fill critical workforce gaps, as highly skilled immigrant doctors and nurses play a critical role in the healthcare workforce, especially in rural states. It will reduce visa backlogs and fill gaps in the workforce.

The EAGLE Act will also enhance protection for US workers in the following ways:

• For the first time ever, employers who hire foreign workers will have to advertise the jobs to American workers on a searchable Department of Labor website for at least 30 calendar days, ensuring American workers can get the first crack at these jobs.
• Employers with excessive foreign workers (more than 50%) will not be able to hire any more foreign workers, ensuring a balance of American workers and immigrant workers.
• For the first time ever, the Department of Labor will be authorized to set a fee to regulate the H1-B worker program, instead of it being an under-funded mandate as it is right now.
• For the first time ever, there will be a statutory bar against using Business visas as work visas.
• Adds whistleblower protection for employees who report illegal employer behavior to the government.
• Requires employers to prove compliance with the law during every interaction with the Government, by requiring submission of all W-2’s for all H1-B visa holders each time they hire or extend the employment of an H1-B visa holder.
• Gives the Department of Labor broad discretion in investigating suspect employers.
• Gives foreign workers who have approved Immigrant petitions the ability to change jobs so that their employers cannot exploit them, thus, removing an incentive to discriminate against American Workers.
• Makes it illegal for jobs to be advertised as “only available to H-1B workers” and ensures that H-1B workers cannot be given a preference over US Citizens.
• Forces employers to justify the wages offered to the immigrant employees so an employer can no longer undercut American workers by paying low wages to immigrants.

The EAGLE Act raises the 7% per-country limit on family-sponsored visas to 15%

The EAGLE Act, short for Equal Access to Green cards for Legal Employment Act, was introduced by U.S. Senators Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and John Hickenlooper (D-CO) in 2021. The Act aims to eliminate the 7% per-country cap on employment-based immigrant visas and raise the per-country cap on family-sponsored visas to 15%.

The current 7% cap on employment-based visas has resulted in a massive backlog of applicants, with more than a million applicants facing multi-decade delays in obtaining an employment-based Green Card. This has resulted in a tremendous personal and economic cost to the immigrants and Americans. The Act will allow employers to hire immigrants based on their merits rather than their birthplace.

The Act will also benefit the U.S. economy by allowing American employers to focus on hiring immigrants based on their merit, not their birthplace. It will also help ease the backlog for those who have been waiting the longest. The Act will create a more fair employment-based visa system by eliminating per-country limitations and creating a first-come, first-served system focused on merit.

The Act will also enhance protection for U.S. workers by requiring employers who hire foreign workers to advertise jobs on a searchable Department of Labor website for at least 30 days, ensuring that American workers get the first opportunity to apply for these jobs. It will also prevent employers with more than 50% of their employees on work visas from hiring any more foreign workers, ensuring a balance of American and immigrant workers.

The EAGLE Act includes a nine-year transition period to ensure that no countries are excluded from receiving visas while the per-country caps are phased out

The EAGLE Act (Equal Access to Green cards for Legal Employment) is a bipartisan bill that aims to reform the current per-country caps on employment-based visas. The Act would phase out the 7% per-country limit on employment-based immigrant visas and raise the 7% per-country limit on family-sponsored visas to 15%. The current per-country cap creates extensive backlogs, making the immigration system less efficient and less fair. This is because the cap is based on the immigrant's country of birth, rather than on their skills. The Act would ensure that visas are allocated based on an immigrant's qualifications and skills, rather than their country of origin.

The nine-year transition period aims to provide a smooth and fair implementation of the EAGLE Act, ensuring that all countries continue to have access to visas while the per-country caps are gradually eliminated.

The EAGLE Act strengthens the H-1B temporary visa program

The EAGLE Act, or the Equal Access to Green Cards for Legal Employment Act, is a bill that aims to reform the employment-based immigration system in the US. It seeks to address the long delays in obtaining employment-based Green Cards, which can have significant personal and economic costs for immigrants and Americans alike.

The H-1B visa program is a temporary visa category that allows US employers to hire foreign workers in specialty occupations requiring highly specialized knowledge and at least a bachelor's degree or equivalent. The EAGLE Act includes provisions that strengthen the H-1B visa program and provide greater benefits and flexibility for both employers and workers.

Firstly, the EAGLE Act aims to streamline the H-1B approvals process, making it more efficient for employers to hire the talent they need. It also allows H-1B beneficiaries with a controlling interest in the petitioning organization to be eligible for H-1B status, subject to certain conditions.

Secondly, the Act enhances the integrity and oversight of the H-1B program. It codifies the authority of USCIS to conduct inspections and impose penalties for non-compliance. It also requires employers to establish that they have a bona fide position available for the worker as of the requested start date and that the Labor Condition Application corresponds with the H-1B petition. Additionally, the petitioner must have legal presence and be subject to legal processes in US courts.

Thirdly, the EAGLE Act provides greater flexibility for employers and workers. It modernizes the definition and criteria for specialty occupation positions, making it easier for employers to hire the talent they need, particularly in critical fields. The Act also extends certain flexibilities for students on F-1 visas, allowing them to change their status to H-1B without disruptions to their lawful status or employment authorization.

Overall, the EAGLE Act's provisions regarding the H-1B visa program aim to strengthen and improve the program, making it more efficient and flexible while also enhancing its integrity. These changes are intended to benefit both US employers and specialty occupation workers, helping to meet US labor needs and boost the country's economic competitiveness.

The EAGLE Act provides an option for individuals who have been waiting in the immigrant visa backlog for two years to file a green card application

The EAGLE Act, or the Equal Access to Green Cards for Legal Employment Act, was introduced by Senators Kevin Cramer and John Hickenlooper in 2022. The Act would phase out the 7% per-country limit on employment-based immigrant visas and raise the 7% per-country limit on family-sponsored visas to 15%.

The Act would benefit the U.S. economy by allowing American employers to focus on hiring immigrants based on their merit, not their birthplace. The EAGLE Act would correct the problems with the current employment-based immigration system, which imposes arbitrary per-country caps on visas. This system has resulted in multi-decade delays and backlogs for applicants seeking employment-based Green Cards.

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