Good News and Bad News on the

Good News and Bad News on the Immigration Legislation Front By: Beth Robertie, Associate 今天早上國會並沒有把上月Senate通過的增加H-1B及綠卡名額加入其S1932的條款裏。這意味著很多人等待將落空。至於何時國會再對此一條款重新審理不得而知。至少要等明年的會期才有希望。我們若有新的消息會隨時宣布。 There is a lot of action in Congress as the members prepare for the holiday break, and although nothing is in final form (no new laws have been passed), there have been some recent developments in which our readers may be interested. * Rep. Sensenbrenner’s “Border Protection, Antiterrorism and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005,” the harsh enforcement-only immigration bill that we have told you about on a few occasions (please see Proposed Immigration Bill Faces Difficulty; Another Enforcement Bill Makes its Way Through the House) , passed by a vote of 239 to 182 (with 13 House members not voting) on Friday. Before being passed by the House, the bill was loaded with several even more anti-immigration measures, including one that eliminates the diversity lottery altogether. Again, this is not yet a law!! Although it was approved in the House, the bill now goes to the Senate for approval. IF it passes out of the Senate without alternation, then it may be made into law. However, it is likely that it will be heavily edited in the Senate, and will then need to be approved in the House again. * Early this morning the House adopted a conference report on the budget reconciliation bill (S 1932) (please see Possible H-1B and Employment-Based Immigration Relief on the Horizon?). As part of last-minute wrangling in the House, the immigration provisions were stripped of the bill completely. This means the conference report failed to include provisions from the Senate Judiciary Committee that would have recaptured unused H-1B and employment-based visa numbers. * The conference report issued by the House also failed to include a proposed $1500 fee increase on L visas. This is the “silver lining” on the cloud of recent immigration legislation. The Senate is scheduled to take up the House conference report today, although some are threatening to hold up Senate business based on other legislation that is being considered. We will let you know about any further developments. ______________________________________________________________________________ 本文由範毅禹律師事務所提供 本律師事務所精辦各類勞工應聘及專業移民申請 (包括H-1，L-1，EB-1，EB-2，NIW，勞工卡，綠卡等申請)。所有申請由多位美籍律師及擁有15年經驗的範毅禹律師親自處理，我所並特設中英移民網站。內有最新移民新聞資訊及由律師主持的移民問答集，歡迎讀者流覽查詢。 www.Fan-Law.com CALIFORNIA : Fan, Fitzpatrick & Thompson, LLP. 370 E. Glenarm St., Pasadena , CA 91106 Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone] MARYLAND : Fan, Fitzpatrick & Thompson, LLP. 230 North Washington Street, Suite 400 , Rockville , MD 20850 Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone]