Eliminating the Employment-Based (EB) Green Card Backlog:
Vital to America’s Economic Competitiveness

By: Allen E. Kaye

THE ISSUE:
Reform of the permanent employment-based green card program is urgently needed in order for U.S. employers to hire the foreign talent necessary for the American economy to remain vibrant and competitive. Over half of all science, technology, engineering, and mathematics graduates of American universities are foreign born. We are also facing a severe shortage of registered nurses as the tidal wave of retiring baby boomers is upon us. At a time when our economy needs high-skilled workers more than ever, our current system forces most of these graduates to leave the U.S. and apply their valuable skills in other countries, a scenario that is beneficial to all but the U.S. Needless to say, foreign countries are not complaining, but are instead poised to take advantage in their increasingly successful attempts to surpass us. Simply put, if the problem isn’t solved soon, the U.S. stands to rapidly lose not only the competitive economic edge generations of Americans have worked so hard to achieve, but also its global preeminence in science and technology areas vital to our prosperity and national security.

HOW THE EMPLOYMENT-BASED GREEN CARD SYSTEM WORKS:
Each year, 140,000 EB green cards, spread across five preference categories based on credentials, are allotted for foreign nationals seeking permanent residence and who are sponsored by their employers to work in this country. The spouses and children of these foreign nationals also count against the 140,000 green card cap, accounting for over half the allotted number. However, because these green cards are distributed equally among all countries, with a quota set for each country, backlogs have resulted for individuals coming from high-demand countries, even when the overall cap has not been reached. Once the quota is met for nationals of a given country, only those who applied before a set cut-off date are able to get green cards.

EB RETROGRESSION AND THE UNAVAILABILITY OF GREEN CARDS:
Thecurrent problems with the EB system are attributable to two things: administrative delays in processing green card applications; and, as mentioned above, the statutory limits, regulated by the U.S. Department of State (DOS), putting a cap on the number of EB green cards issued each year. When DOS believes that either the overall or per country cap is about to be reached, it imposes a “cut off” date, and only applications received before this date are processed. In October 2005 (and many times since), DOS moved this cut-off date backward, in an effort to ration available green cards. As a result, thousands of foreign professionals, many of whom have been in the U.S. legally for nearly a decade on student or work visas, have been forced to wait, essentially in a legal purgatory, up to seven years to get a green card and enjoy the rights and benefits of legal permanent residence. This means up to seven years spent waiting and worrying unnecessarily, with spouses unauthorized to work at all. Not surprisingly, these talented professionals often tire of waiting, and leave the U.S. entirely to put their knowledge and skills to use in other countries eager to compete with and surpass the U.S.

SHORT-TERM RELIEF Congress must reform the EB green card system. These
reforms should include:

Without these reforms, we will continue to make it more and more difficult for talented
foreign professionals to work in this country and fill the positions U.S. employers
desperately need to fill. As a result, these talented professionals will simply go elsewhere,
resulting in devastating long-term consequences for the U.S. economy.

CURRENT LEGISLATION: There are currently two main pieces of legislation that
attempt to reform the EB green card program. The SKIL Bill (S 1083/HR 1930)
introduced by Senator Cornyn and Rep. Shadegg would:

There is also the STRIVE Act of 2007 (H.R. 1645), introduced by Rep. Gutierrez which
proposes the most complete reform of our current immigration system. Regarding EB
green cards, the STRIVE Act would:

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