S.2611-Hagel-Martinez Compromise Immigration Reform included the following proposals:

  • Increase employment-based Green Card quota from 140,000 to 450,000; skilled categories get 70% of this total
  • Exclude dependents from the employment-based green card quota
  • Exempt advanced degree holders in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math who have worked for 3 years in a related field from the EB quota.
  • Increase the per-country quota from 7% to 10% but also makes it a hard cap. Unused Green cards would likely slip down all the way to the EB5 unskilled category, and would not be used in the highly skilled category that they were intended for.

There was a risk that backlogs could increase.

Immigration Voice, with the help of Senator Specter and Senator Kennedy, has its goals written into the bipartisan Managers’ Amendment to S.2611-The Hagel-Martinez Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill. These amendments are expected to remove the hard country cap for the employment-based category, and set 3-year extensions for Employment Authorization Documents and Travel Documents. Immigrants may also file for Adjustment of Status despite visa number unavailability.

Update: The Immigration Bill was not taken up by the House. The Senate version of this Comprehensive Immigration Reform, S.2611, was not reconciled with the House. The House of Representatives held hearings on Immigration but neither passed any legislation nor did they convene a conference committee with the Senate.