Eagle Act And Its Benefits For Indian Immigrants

Eagle Act: The White House helped the US Congress approve a bill last week with the intention of getting rid with the per-country cap on giving green cards.

The measure is expected to benefit Indian-Americans if it is implemented since it will allow US firms to concentrate on hiring people based on “talent” rather than “birthplace.”

The (Equal Access to Green Card for Legal Employment) EAGLE Act of 2022 will shortly be put to a vote in the House of Representatives.

What is the EAGLE Act of 2022?

By removing the “per country” restriction on employment-based immigrant visas (green cards), the Act aims to enable US firms to “concentrate on employing immigrants based on merit, not their origin.” The proposal intends to phase away the per-country limitations over a nine-year period in order to lessen the impact on less populous nations and guarantee that eligible immigrants from these nations are not disqualified when the Act is put into effect.

In order to meet the demand for nurses and physical therapists in the healthcare industry, as well as “for employment-based immigrants and their family members who are not currently in the United States,” some visas will be set aside for these individuals during the transition period, according to a statement released by the Executive Office of the President.

The EAGLE Act 2022’s secondary goal is to improve the H-1B specialist occupation visa programme. Among other things, the hiring criteria would be more stringent, US worker rights would be improved, and openness would be expanded.

“H.R. 3648 also contains crucial measures that will enable those who have been waiting in line for immigrant visas for two years to apply for green cards.

“Employment-based immigrants would be able to move off of their temporary visas and provide them extra flexibility in changing jobs or establishing a company, even if the applications wouldn’t be granted until a visa became available,” the statement adds.

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What are the benefits of the Eagle Act for Indian Americans?

Due to the per-country cap and the 140,000 employment-based green cards available, the backlog has reached millions. In its 2022 analysis, the CATO institute notes that virtually majority of the backlogged immigrants are from India.

In the United States, skilled Indian employees made up 75% of the employment-based backlog, according to the CATO analysis from 2020. Notably, the backed-up Indian labourers risked a nine-decade wait before they could receive a green card assuming they all managed to stay in line.

Additionally, according to the 2020 study, “nearly 200,000 applications submitted for Indians might expire as a result of the employees passing away at an advanced age before they acquire green cards.”

Indians must wait far longer than other nationalities due to companies filing many more applications for them than is permitted by law, in addition to the law’s restrictions on the number of green cards that may be issued to immigrants from a single birthplace.