A proposal to raise the annual quota of H1B visas, which will give more Indian professionals a chance to work in the United States, received a major boost in the US Congress with the Senate Judiciary Committee voting overwhelmingly in favour of raising the its cap from 65,000 to 95,000.
During an executive business meeting for the Senate Judiciary Committee on October 20, Senator Arlen Specter proposed adding 60,000 to the cap, but the committee instead chose to support Senator Diane Feinstein's (D-CA) amendment adding 30,000 H1B visas to the cap.
The number of green cards, officially known as Employment Based Immigrant Visas, would be increased through a change in language regarding who is applicable for it, according to the US-India Business Alliance, a group of Indian and American businessmen which is backing the proposal for raising the H1B visa cap.
Under current law, spouses and children of green card holders count towards the cap, but the committee proposed that to change this so that spouses and children do not count towards the cap.
This proposed change will result in a significant increase in the number of available green cards.
However, there is still a significant amount of work to be done before the proposal takes the shape of a legislation.
This language has been added to the Senate Budget Reconciliation Bill. The Budget Reconciliation Bill is due to be voted upon later this year, and then a conference will be held between the Senate and House of Representatives.