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Possible Implications for Legal Migrants

The “Security Through Regularized Immigration and a Vibrant Economy (STRIVE) Act”, which was introduced in the US House of Representatives on Thursday, 22nd March 2007, is similar to the immigration bill put forward by the Senate Judiciary Committee last year. Except this time, the Act mandates that the provisions regarding border security are in place and working before other immigration reforms can take place.

However, there is a long way to go before the bill can become a law. The Strive Act is now in the hands of the Immigration Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee, where it could either become the new immigration bill, get modifies or entirely scratched.

Meanwhile, working on the assumption that The Strive Act will go on to becoming the next big change in US Immigration, we will look into the possible implications of this act for future legal migrants to US.

Heightened Border Security

The new and stricter border security guidelines set by the Strive Act has two possible implications for people entering the US for work. One, unless these guidelines are put in place and being followed, the New Worker Program and the increase in Caps will not be legalized.

Even if the Bill goes through, most of the statutes will be implemented only after the Secretary of DHS (Department of Home Services) proves to Congress that the border security clauses like improved border surveillance technology, immigration document security and the Electronic Employment Verification System has been implemented.

Harsher Penalties for Lawbreaking Aliens

The Strive Act, if passed as it is, will mean harsher punishment for aliens breaking the law.  It will also expand the list of crimes that are punishable and increases penalties related to them. For example, money laundering, firearms related offenses, drunk driving and gang crimes, alien smuggling, unauthorized employment of aliens etc among other things.
Employment Verification and Employer Obligations

The Strive Act will sets up an employment verification system for employers. It also lays down civil penalties for employers who knowingly hire unauthorized aliens. Multiple violations can even lead to Debarment for employers. There will be benefits for employees in this as well, like increased job security and fair pay.

New Worker Program

After months of hedging, the Strive Act finally acknowledges the glaring deficiencies in the existing work visa system by introducing the New Worker Visa Program. The H2C Visa requires the applicant to qualify for the position, not necessarily a “specialized” position or one requiring a bachelor’s degree as minimum. The Visa will be valid three years and renewable for another three, just like H1B. However, employers will be required to attempt to hire an U.S. worker first.

The H2C will have an initial cap of 400,000 which can be adjusted yearly based on market fluctuations. An H-2C worker will have certain advantages by law, such as fair and competitive wages, travel outside the US, Whistleblower protections, Change Employers (“portability”).

  • Earned Citizenship

An H2C worker can also apply for Conditional Permanent Residence after five years of employment. It can be self-petitioned by the immigrant or through the employer, requiring a $500 application fee.

Family/Employment Based Immigration

Striving to fix yet another broken visa system, the STRIVE Act promises major overhauls in the family-based and employment-based immigration system, which is currently staggering under huge backlogs and retrogressing rapidly. Some of the changes include:

  1. Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens will become exempt from the annual cap of 480,000, freeing thousands of visa numbers for redistribution.
  2. Unused Family Based visas from previous years will be carried over and added to the Cap in future fiscal years.
  3. The Annual Employment Based (EB) visa quota will be increased by more then double, from 140,000 to 290,000 per fiscal year. The 290,000 visas is will be redistributed among the three EB categories.
  4. Annual H1B Cap will increase to 115,000 (adjustable in the subsequent year if the cap is reached during a given fiscal year, but not to exceed 180,000)
  5. H1B applicants who have earned an advanced degree in science, technology, engineering, or math in the United States will be exempt from this cap.
  6. Unused EB visas from previous fiscal years will be carried over and added to the future fiscal years.
  7. Visas issued to spouses and children of EB immigrants after October 1, 2004 will no longer be counted against the cap.
  8. The new Annual Cap for EB spouses and children is 800,000.
  9. Several categories immigrants with advanced skills exempt from visa cap.
Reward Program for Hardworking Individuals

The Strive Act also introduces the Visa Program for Qualified Undocumented Workers, a visa made for undocumented immigrants and their families, which is valid for six years. This visa will allow applicants to work and travel as well as protect from deportation. The program will also be available for immigrants who are facing removal providing them with an opportunity to stay back.

The program will further allow qualified conditional non-immigrants the opportunity to apply for lawful permanent resident status (green card) and eventually citizenship. However, the current immigrant backlogs must be cleared before qualified conditional nonimmigrant visa applicants can get resident status.