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EAGLE Act of 2021 – Green Cards Per Country Caps Removal Bill: Summary, Chances?

Many professionals working in the US on a non-immigrant visa like H1B Visa or L1 Visa aspire to get a Green Card (GC), which makes them permanent residents in the US. Getting a green card opens up opportunities as these professionals are not bound by visa restrictions to pursue their dreams like starting a company or switch companies.  But, there is a limit of 140,000 employment-based green cards issued per year and on top of that, there is a per-country limit of 7% ( also called per country cap). The per-country limits impact applicants from large countries like India or China to have decades of wait time to get a green card.

On June 1st, 2021, Rep. Zoe Lofgren and Rep. John Curtis introduced a bill called, EAGLE Act of 2021, that addresses the issue and removes per-country caps.  In this article, we will review the background, the official text of the bill, how it is the same or different from last year’s HR 1044 or S386 Bill, and review its chances of passing in Senate & House.

What is EAGLE Act of 2021 ? Background of HR 3648 Bill ?

Background of HR 3648 Bill – Why Introduced ?

As per the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), which has guidance on green cards allocation, there are a total of 140,000 employment-based green cards available per year. Also, there is a limit of 7% (9,800) per country.  This per-country cap is fixed, irrespective of the size of the country. A country like Iceland with a 338,000 population gets the same number compared to India which has about 1.339 billion population. Many attempts have been made in the past to remove this per-country cap.  

Over the years, there were many bills that were introduced in US Congress to remove the per-country caps for employment-based green cards. None of them passed both House and Senate. The most recent Congress Bills from 2019 and 2020 that address the same issue are HR 1044 and S 386. You can check the history of news with the timeline for HR 1044, S386

After a lot of debate, compromises, amendments, the final version of the bill that combined both S386 and HR1044 passed in the Senate in early December 2020. Check the final HR 1044 + S386 Bill that Passed in Senate for complete info on it. But, Due to disagreements with the final amendments added related to Chinese Military & Communist party associated clauses the bill was not taken up in House in the final session in the year 2020.  

EAGLE Act of 2021 Bill (H.R. 3648) General Information

House Rep. Zoe Lofgren introduced Bill H.R. 3648 in the House on June 1st, 2021 that aims at removing per-country caps for Green Cards allocation. The Bill is called as “Equal Access to Green cards for Legal Employment (EAGLE) Act of 2021” or in short referred to as the “EAGLE Act of 2021“. This new Bill introduced is based on final versions of the previous Bill HR 1044 + S386 that was passed in the Senate.

The reason for this new bill introduction is also due to the fact that the other bill US Citizenship Act of 2021, which promises to remove per-country caps for green cards has not moved since it was introduced in Feb 2021. Below is the screenshot of the Official HR 3648 Bill Text introduced in Congress

HR 3648 Bill - EAGLE Act of 2021 - General Info
HR 3648 Bill – EAGLE Act of 2021 – General Info

Now that you understand the background, let look at the summary of the bill and all the clauses in it. We have divided the bill summary by topic for easy review.

EAGLE Act of 2021 : Remove Per Country Limits for Employment Based Green Cards

The main purpose of the bill is to eliminate the per country-based limits for employment-based green cards(GC) allocation based on country of birth. The current limits are set to set to 7% or 9,800 per country for the same.  As per the current EAGLE ACT of 2021 it eliminates these per country limits.

Change in Per Country Limit for Family Sponsored Petitions

The current bill also increases the limit of family sponsored green card petitions from 7% to 15% per fiscal year.  The limit would be 2 percent for dependent areas (these are not independent countries, but dependent colonies, parts of certain countries like French Polynesia of France)

Effective Date of the Bill

This would be effective from the first day of the second fiscal year after the bill is passed and signed into law. In general, DHS’s fiscal year starts on Oct 1st. If the bill is passed before Oct 1st, 2021, then it would be effective from Oct 1st, 2022.

Transition Rules – 9 Years

There is a 9-year transition period after the effective date, to better transition and not have major two countries (like India, China) take up everything. Below are the transition rules.

 Fiscal YearsPercentage of Reservation
First Fiscal year after effective Date (Oct 2022 – Sep 2023)30% reserved for rest of the world (ROW) and only 70% to be allocated to major countries like India, China.  
Second Fiscal year after effective Date (Oct 2023 – Sep 2024) 25% reserved for ROW, 75% available for major countries like India, China  
Third Fiscal year after effective Date (Oct 2024 – Sep 2025)  20% reserved for ROW, 80% available for major countries like India, China  
Fourth Fiscal year after effective Date (Oct 2025 – Sep 2026)15% reserved for ROW, 85% available for major countries like India, China  
Fifth and Sixth Fiscal years after effective Date (Oct 2026 – Sep 2028)10% reserved for ROW, 90% available for major countries like India, China  
Seventh, Eighth and Ninth Fiscal years after effective Date (Oct 2028 – Sep 2031)5% reserved for ROW, 95% available for major countries like India, China  
9 Year Transition period Rules for ROW, India & China

Per Country Levels during the 9 year Transition Period

  • Reserved Visas: During the 9 year transition period, no country from the rest of the world can take up 25% of the total reserved green cards numbers/ visas. These reserved are the 30%, 25%, etc. as in the above table.
  • Unreserved Visas: During the 9 year transition period, no country can take more than 85% of the unreserved visas numbers. These unreserved visas are nothing but 70% in Year 1, 75% in year 2, etc. Essentially, they are telling that the maximum a country like India or China can take is 85% of this unreserved pool.
  • Unused Visas Clause:  During the 9 year transition period, if any of the visas are leftover or unused due to the clauses as listed above like per country levels, and reservations, then such visas should be given to the remaining ones in line without applying such restrictions.

Reserved Visa for Rest of the World with Approved I-140

For the first 9 years from the effective date of the Bill, 5.75% of the employment-based green cards would be given to the rest of the world (not major countries like India, China), who have an approved immigrant petition (I-140) but waiting in line due to backlog, in the following order.

  • Family members joining primary green card applicant as dependents.  
  • Green Card applicants, who have not lived or worked in the US at any point in the previous 4 years since they filed their Green Card petition from outside of the US.
  • Any other immigrants from the rest of the world countries, who are waiting in line with approved I-140 for their green card slot.

Reserved for Shortage Occupations (Schedule A workers) 4,400

For each of the seven fiscal years from the effective date (Oct 2022 to Sep 2029), not fewer than 4,400 immigrant visas should be made available for Schedule A workers as they are described in Section 656.5(a).

The big catch is that these 4,400 visa numbers should NOT be taken from the reserved pool set aside for the rest of the world for the first 9 years, including the 5.75% set aside for the same group waiting with approved I-140s.  Also, the dependents joining Schedule A workers would be entitled to get an unreserved visa(not from the reserved 4,400) and considered in the same order.

For example, if let’s say each of the nurses under these 4,400 reserved visas, gets two dependents, they will consume 8,800 from the general pool. The general pool is essentially the quota of large countries like India, China

Chinese Student Protection Act: The bill also eliminates the limiting clause in the Chinese Student Protection Act of 1992 and restores 1000 visas for them.

H1B Program, LCA Process Changes in EAGLE Act 2021

All the H1B Visa related amendments from the previous bill are added as they were before that are related to H1B Program and H1B Labor Condition Application (LCA). Below is the complete list.

  • Post H1B Jobs on Department of Labor :  Within 180 days from the effective date of the Bill, the Department of Labor(DOL) should setup a “Searchable Internet website” to post the H1B positions that are available to be viewed by public for free. The job has to be posted for at least 30 days  on the website and has to have all the below information :
    • Job Description, Title, Occupational classification, education, training and experience required.
    • Salary and wage details, employment benefits
    • Location of the employment
    • Process to apply for the position.
    • DOL may work with private companies, non-profit orgs to develop and manage the H1B jobs website.  
  • H1B Employer Application Requirements for New Applications: Below are the various rules that need to be complied with by the employer when they do recruitment for open positions.
    • For new applications, the employer or anyone hiring on behalf of the employer should not advertise the position saying that it is available only to H1B holders and there will be a priority for H1B applicants.
    • If the employer already has H1B workers, they need to submit the IRS W-2 forms related to H1B workers to the DOL Secretary.
    • The LCA should also have the prevailing wage determining methodology information.
  • New H1B Petitions Requirements – Not more than 50% L1 + H1B: If the employer has 50 or more employees in the US, then the sum of H1B and L1 visa holders cannot be more than 50% of total employees. 
    • This is also called the 50-50 clause. This only applies to new H1B filings and does not apply to H1B Extensions or Transfers (change employers)
    • This requirement will be applicable, 180 days after the effective date of the Bill.
    • Any subsidiaries or group-related companies, that are part of one group, are treated as a single employer for the above provision, as long as they are filing tax under one entity with IRS as per Section 414.
  • New H1B LCA Fee : Currently, there is no fee for filing LCAs. As per the current passed Bill, for administrative expenses, DOL has to come up with a fee for LCA filing. It will be tracked under an account called  ‘H–1B Administration, Oversight, Investigation, and Enforcement Account’  and used for H1B program by DOL.
  • Elimination of B1  visa in lieu ( instead) of H1B : As per the text in Bill passed in Senate, US State department should not issue B-1 visa for short term work contracts, instead of H1B visa. In general, even today B1 should not be used for short-term projects. The goal of this clause is to weed out companies trying to eliminate the LCA process and H1B for any short-term work. This is something that many companies use and abuse as well for short-term projects, the trick is in the enforcement.  
  • H1B Employers Investigation and enforcement: Below clauses were added in the Bill that was passed in Senate to enforce and tackle violations by employers.
    • Additional protections for employees who report violations of employers related to wages or LCA provisions
    • Information sharing between USCIS and DOL regarding the H1B petitions that can be used by DOL for enforcement and compliance.
    • Additional authority for Dept of Labor (DOL) to review the LCA beyond just the completeness of the LCA form and to look for any fraud or false information by employers.
  • H1B Labor Condition Application(LCA) Wages, Compliance :
    • Prevailing wage enforcements to make sure the employers are obligated to pay the actual wages that are there in a particular geographic area for a similar experience, job role with similar duties.
    • If there are complaints, DOL may initiate investigations in detail. Also, DOL may conduct surveys and annual audits for LCA compliance.
    • DOL to conduct annual compliance audits for employers with more than 100 employees and have 15% of the workforce as H1B. Annual reports on audit and compliance for public review.
    • The penalties amount paid by employers for violations increased to $3000, $15000, and $100,000 for anyone who violates any of the rules of LCA.
    • Expansion of DOL’s authority to conduct investigations based on anonymous complaints, where DOL would provide notice and details to respond before investigation. Also, if DOL finds the employer did not comply with requirements, such info may be shared with interested parties and a hearing with them within 60 days. Also, penalties will be imposed, if found any violations.

Adjustment of Status, Dependents, Work Authorization Provisions

Below are various provisions related to dependents, adjustment of status, work authorization, etc.

  • Apply for Adjustment of Status ( I-485 Application ): You can apply for adjustment of status using I-485, both applicant and eligible dependents if you have your Immigrant Petition (I-140 application ) approved or pending for more than 2 years. So, you do not have to wait for the Priority date to be current to apply for the Adjustment of Status (I-485).
  • Dependent Child Aging out – Adjustment of Status: If you file for adjustment of status as described above, then your dependent child will continue to qualify for the application of a green card, irrespective of the age of the child. This is the one that many refer to aging out of children waiting for their green card.
  • Deceased Principal Applicant: Similar to above, if you file for adjustment of status, then you will continue to be eligible for a green card as a dependent, even if the principal applicant has died. This provision is to address the situation, where the primary applicant is deceased and spouse, children have to leave the country.
  • Work Authorization, Travel Permission: The applicant who files the adjustment of status ( I-485) as per above, will be eligible for work authorization and travel permission (Advance Parole) as well.
  • Approval of Adjustment of Status Application : The approval of adjustment of status (I-485) application filed will not be approved until the priority date becomes current (immigrant visas are available)
  • Duties, Hours and Compensation:  The terms and conditions, working hours, compensation, duties, etc. for the applicants who have file adjustment of status application (I-485) has to be similar to US workers working in same area. Even, if the employer does not have anyone employed on similar terms, the employer is obligated and needs to attest that they are providing similar terms and conditions, duties, etc.
  • Bona Fide Job Offer (I-485 Supplement J) with EAD Application:  It is required by the principal applicant to file a confirmation of Bona Fide Job Offer or Portability, which is nothing but I-485 Supplement J form, with any Employment Authorization (EAD) Application. The EAD will be valid for 3 years.
    • The applicant needs to file I-485 Supplement J for new and renewal applications of EAD. Also, the applicant needs to provide supporting documentation to show that the terms and conditions of the job role are same as US workers and also include a signed verification letter stating the same from current or prospective employer. If such documentation is not provided, USCIS can deny the I-485 for the applicant and dependents.  
    • Fee for I-485 Supplement J : There will be a fee of $2000 USD collected for each of the I-485 Supplement J that you file.
  • Priority Date becomes Current – I485 Supplement J: To adjudicate I-485 application, when Priority date becomes current, USCIS may ask you to file I-485 supplement J, if they do not have your latest I-485 J supplement within previous 12 months.
  • Limitation on Work Authorization for Dependents: This is a tricky one…It tells that if the applicant was not eligible for work authorization or did not had work authorization at the time of filing of Adjustment of Status (I-485) application, then they will not be eligible for work authorization during the pending state of the application. For example, if H4 EAD rule is revoked, then H4 applicants would technically not have work authorization…so, they may not be eligible for work authorization as they wait for the priority date to be current. See below.  The only exception to get that is to demonstrate compelling circumstances to USCIS to get the EAD.
  • Effective Date and Validity: All the above provisions will be applicable after one year from the effective date of the Bill. They will sunset after 9 years from the effective date of the bill. If you were to file during the 9 years period, they would be still adjudicated even after the 9 years.

Current Status of EAGLE Act of 2021 (HR 3648 Bill) ?

Similar to any other bill introduced in House or Senate, EAGLE Act of 2021 also has to follow the typical process for a Bill to Become Law. It needs to go through House sub-committees, committees, voting. Many of these could be skipped as well as this bill is not new and can go for voting as well.  Below is the current status and screenshot of the same from Congress.gov

  • EAGLE Act of 2021 was introduced in House on June 1st, 2021, and referred to House Committee on Judiciary.
  • The Official Bill Text is also updated on Congress.gov website. There are no amendments done to the original text of the bill.
  • The Bill has not come to floor yet for debate or voting.
  • The Bill has 39 Sponsors as of early July 2021.
HR 3648 - EAGLE Act of 2021 Current Status
HR 3648 – EAGLE Act of 2021 Current Status

Latest News of EAGLE Act of 2021 – Key updates timeline

Below is a short summary of the key timeline of events, news related to HR 3648 Bill. For complete detailed updates by week, check out Latest News Updates EAGLE Act of 2021.

  • Jul 11th, 2021 : There are two more co-sponsors added in July, total stands at 39.
  • June 30th, 2021 : By end of June, there were 18 more co-sponors added. The total co-sponsors of the bill stood at 37 by June 30th, 2021.
  • June 1st, 2021 : House Bill HR 3648 Introduced in House. It had 19 Original Sponsors at the time the bill was introduced. It was referred to the House Committe on Judiciary.

What are chances for passing EAGLE Act of 2021 ? Can it become Law ?

In the last 2 years, we have seen the Bills HR 1044, S386 go through the hoops and could not cross the finish line due to various reasons. If you look at the text of the current Bill “EAGLE Act of 2021”, it is not much different from the previous HR 1044 amended bill that was passed in Senate in December 2020. The key differences are the removal of the clauses related to “Association of Chinese Military or Communist Party” and the limits on the H1B, H4 Holders applying for Green Cards during the 9-year transition period.

Let’s look at some numbers. If we look at the number of co-sponsors, the previous Bill HR 1044 had 311 Co-sponsors, but our current bill HR 3648 has only 39 co-sponsors as of mid-July. Technically from numbers-wise, there is a long way to go for the bill to get broader support. As per just these numbers, the chances for this bill to pass are very low.

Having said that, immigration is a priority topic for the current administration, which is a positive sign for the future of the current new bill. We need to see how the dynamics would play in Senate. We do not know at this point, who can put a hold on the bill, provided it gets broder support in House and passes.

The H1B program-related clauses are very tricky as they will limit the functioning of outsourcing companies. This is a big lobbying area. Many of these large MNCs and Outsourcing players may lobby for changes to these clauses…So, very difficult to say how this pans out. As it stands today, the chances for this bill look very low. This bill has a long way to go….

What are your thoughts on the chances for the bill ? Share your thoughts in comments below.

Common FAQs

Is EAGLE Act of 2021 related to Immigration passed in Congress ?

No. US House Bill H.R. 3648, which is called ‘EAGLE ACT of 2021’, was introduced in House and now with House Judiciary Committee. It is yet to come on the floor for debate and voting.

Has EAGLE Act of 2021 been introduced in Senate ?

No. There is no immigration bill called EAGLE Act of 2021 that is introduced in Senate yet. Currently, there is only House version of the Bill.

EAGLE Act 2021 Current Status ?

The immigration bill, EAGLE ACT of 2021, is currently with House Judiciary Committee in the House.

What is the Official HR 3648 Bill Page on Congress.gov ?

You can check Congress.gov HR 3648 link, it takes you to the official page for the bill.

Reference : Official Text of the EAGLE Act of 2021

   

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39 Comments

  1. You can literally and figuratively walk into Canada and be a citizen in 3 years. Not sure why so many wait 100 years for a GC on a discriminatory system. Well some birds chose to stay in cages even when they are set free.

    Reply
  2. Indian h1b’s should all unite and just take one day leave of absence together as a protest .
    Imagine the impact , every single company in USA will come to halt.
    Media houses will come running for the bite,

    we have to unite and find innovative ways to protest and come to limelight.

    Reply
    • This will give “too much favor” to everyone applying for a green card by allowing for early filing of adjustment in 2 years. Green cards should NOT be reserved for people who haven’t been born yet. First come first serve is life.

      Reply
  3. Increasing the cap to 15% from 7% for family based without adding Green Cards is impacting the ROW waiting time, slowing the process for those few people of the Rest of the World and impacting the diversity. The best way is to increase number of Green Cards together increasing the cap, if we want a real Win-Win solution.

    Reply
    • Increasing the number of green cards remains a issue that does not have traction at all. Why? Because it only affects people from 2 countries. Everyone else can benefit from the status quo. This is why the EAGLE Act must pass to restore equality in the system and stop the deliberate act of putting immigrants against each other. Advocate for this bill if you ever want to see increased green cards. EVER.

      Reply
      • changing the rules after immigrant from other countries other than India and China applied and adding years to their forecasted wait time is exactly putting immigrants against each other, that is very bad.

        How do you think an Immigrant from ROW will feel if suddenly his waiting time will increase since visa number are moved to other few countries? That will turn all the ROW immigrants very unhappy… That is not a win-win solution , just a win-loose one

        Reply
        • why dont you go focus and lobby for more greencards then?

          instead of crying that first come first serve is not fair and trying to impede people who have been stuck in queue decades.
          You wouldnt even wait for a minute if someone cut you in line for a coffee

          Reply
          • Exactly we should ask more visas instead of just changing the rules and move visas to just few countries impacting all the other countries waiting time and the diversity of immigration …win-win is the key 🙂

  4. All Indian H1B holders, who are saying that this bill will never pass, need to retrospect and think what are they doing to help it pass.
    Call your house representatives and Senators and request them to support the bill.

    Reply
    • Ask your representatives to cosponsor this bill. Tell them your story tell them how it impacts you. Do something other than saying “it will not pass weh weh weh” and then filing for a extension…

      Reply
    • I hate this bill, it needs to fail. Indians need to make India great. They have failed MISERABLY in this respect. Make India great, do not turn American into the hellhole that is India.

      Reply
      • Yes, indians can go to the dump even though they are legally paying taxes and contributing to the US economy; last i checked many big corps are run by Indian born immigrants. but who cares ! . Anyways let’s screw these guys and offer asylum/GC help to the middle eastern and other non-contributing folks who attacked my army brethren and now will come here and live off on welfare funds off the taxes that you and i pay. (probably one indian techies pay more than us combined !)

        Reply
  5. This WILL NOT pass and they will blame GOP and it is all pre-decided. H1b is a deep politics subject. Politicians from both parties do not want to solve this issue but they pretend support in media and congress by bringing such bills and obviously claim “we tried but it failed”. They will solve this issue when Indian origin population in the US becomes large enough voters to swing elections. See how by hook or crook, they try to make illegal immigrants legal or continue give more welfare to them because now that population and their US born kids are large enough voting block.

    Reply
    • It will not pass because free biryani grabbers like you, only whine and not do anything to help pass the bill.

      Reply
      • Exactly. Call your congress representative and ask them to cosponsor this bill! Sitting on your ass being a keyboard warrior making pessimistic comments will have you stuck in the backlog forever.

        Reply
        • I hope you are intelligent enough to know that so called YOUR congressmen and representative give no damn about non citizens like H1b because you can not simply vote for or against them in elections. Dude, this is not pessimistic, it is realistic. No way 10 gop senators will help this cross finish line of 60 votes in senate even if all dems vote yes. Go drink you Mango lassi.

          Reply
          • Okay riddle me this then genius: Why introduce the bill this Congress again? If your logic stands, “my representative” is indifferent because I’m not directly impacting their election (and my one vote would?). Regardless, why is there constant progress in every bill introduced? HR3648 is S386 as amended along with durbin provisions. “Realistic” is closer to pessimistic in your case. But that’s exactly what people like you will do, fight each other because that’s what the system intends to do.

    • If the Indian population ever gets large enough to swing elections, they will be the worst group of all voters. They will swing elections for the likes of Trump and make anti-immigrant policies. Indians should remain in India and screw it up.

      Reply
      • Hi Mark! I don’t know how you got to that conclusion, possibly a bad experience with someone on the internet? Let’s look at the facts.

        1)Seventy-two percent of registered Indian American voters voted for Biden and 22 percent voted for Trump in the 2020 November election.

        2)71% of the Indian American population is foreign born (then naturalized citizen to vote)

        I hope someday you come across an Indian that you can respect as a human being and not as a one-size-fits-all shoe.

        Reply
  6. This bill picks up from where the senate left off. I think the fact that this includes the Durbin amendment to allow early filing of AOS (after 2 years of approved I140) makes it a win-win for all the backlogged Indians/Chinese and ROW. I believe there is reason to be hopeful about this bill.

    I know we all have waited for so long that it’s hard to think optimistically, but do not lose hope because we have nothing else to rely on.

    Reply
  7. I’m fairly pessimistic after witnessing HR 1044 & S386’s failure.

    Each such attempt opens up avenues for lobbying groups to feed the greed and need of politicians occupying the senate & house. Like taking our taxes was not enough they will now make calls to fund and support this Bill until the very last days in December 2022 when it will pass and die like S-386.

    The politicians would be Millions of dollars richer and we would be tired, distraught and continue slaving. We are not in the voting public. Passing such reforms puts an end to their money raising tactics so they will never do the “right” thing. Rational sense would imply this will never pass.

    Reply

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