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LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
Several months after introducing legislation to control illegal immigration, Senator Alan Simpson (R-WY), chairman of the Senate's Subcommittee on Immigration, has introduced a bill (S.1394) which would further restrict nearly every aspect of legal immigration. The Subcommittee's markup on the bill is now complete and the bill is expected to be heard by the Senate Judiciary Committee in early 1996. The bill has been combined with S.269, Senator Simpson's illegal immigration enforcement bill. This combining of the bills is seen as particularly troublesome to immigration advocates since the illegal immigration reform sections of the bill are extremely popular and may be enough to overcome reservations many Senators have about the more draconian sections of the legal immigration reform sections of the bill. The full text of the pre-markup bill is available at our web site - http://www.visalaw.com/~gsiskind/ . In many ways, Senator Simpson's bill goes much further to restrict legal immigration than the House's counterpart legislation. The following is a summary of the major provisions of the bill: 
Employment immigration provisions
Employment-based immigration would be reduced from 140,000 to 90,000 
Multinational managers and executives would still be eligible for permanent residency without seeking a labor certification, but only if the employer has a total of at least 100 people and a) at least twenty of those employees must be US citizens or permanent residents and b) at least ten persons must be employed in two foreign countries or twenty persons must be employed in one foreign country. Multinational managers and executives would now have to a) work outside of the US for the petitioning company for at least three of five years immediately preceding the application or b) work at least one year for the employer and at least three years as an executive or manager outside of the US. 
In one of the few category expansions in the bill, the "extraordinary ability" category has been broadened to include not only those with extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business or athletics, but also those with the potential for extraordinary ability in those categories. 
The outstanding professor and researcher category will still be available, but there are new recruitment attestation requirements. 
The National Interest Waiver for advanced degree professionals and "exceptional ability" aliens is eliminated. 
Special Immigrant Visas available to clergymen and others is limited to 5,000 visas.
There are a number of new requirements for labor certification-based permanent residency applications: 
Employers would have to pay into a retraining fund for US workers a fee equal to 10% of the worker's annual compensation package or ,000 (whichever is higher). 25% of the fee can be offset if a company has an internal training fund. Employers found to be passing on the fee to the worker would be fined and prohibited from submitting new labor certifications for one year; 
The Department of Labor can certify a nationwide shortage or surplus for a particular occupation. A labor certification would not be required if there is a shortage (though the 25% fee would still be due). If there is a surplus, a labor certification would not be issued. 
The offered compensation in a labor certification advertisement must be at least 105% of the "prevailing wage" paid to similarly employed US workers; 
The alien must be able to read, write and speak English at a level needed for standard business communications; 
The green card will be conditioned on the employee staying with the employer for two years (there is a limited waiver of this provision if good cause can be shown for leaving before two years such as illegal acts of the employer and material alterations in terms and conditions of employment); 
Skilled workers must have two years training or experience, a high school degree and two years of college or post-high school specialized training with a total of five years experience; 
Professional workers with bachelors degrees would need to have three years experience; 
Advanced degree workers (those with a degree higher than a bachelors degree) would need at least three years work experience in the profession.
Family Immigrant and Other Immigrant Provisions
Family immigration would be reduced from 226,000 (excluding immediate relatives) to 85,000. 
Immediate relatives would still be allowed to immigrate without numerical limits, but the definition of "immediate relative" is narrowed considerably. Spouses and children under 21 are still included, but only certain parents would qualify. Parents would need to be older than age 65, 50% or more of their children would have to reside in the US permanently and the petitioning son or daughter would have to purchase health and long term care insurance as part of an enforceable Affidavit of Support. The penalty for violation is a civil fine of between ,000 and ,000. 
Adult children of citizens and permanent residents, married children of citizens and brothers and sisters of citizens are no longer eligible for permanent residency. 
In a rare example of humanity, the bill now includes a "special immigrant" category for disabled children of citizens and permanent residents. "Disabled" includes severe mental or physical impairments that make it impossible for the child to live on his or her own. The insurance requirements applicable to parents of citizens (described above) would apply here as well. 
The DV "green card lottery" program is eliminated. 
The bill provides for 150,000 extra visas to be issued per year to clear the backlog of spouses and minor children awaiting visas. 
There shall be a per country limit of 20,000 visas (the limit will be 40,000 for countries adjacent to the US.
Nonimmigrant visa provisions
"dual intent" for L nonimmigrant visa holders would be eliminated. This is the provision which permits people to apply for either type of visa without having to prove that they do not have an intent to remain in the US. Under the current law, someone could have a permanent residency petition pending without affecting eligibility for the L visa. 
For L visas, the definition of a "multinational company" applicable to multinational executives and managers in the permanent residency category would apply to L visa companies as well (100 or more employees, 20 or more US citizens employees, at least 20 persons out of the US). 
L visa "specialized knowledge" employees would need to show that their "specialized knowledge" is not common in the industry. 
L visas would be limited to three years (currently up to seven years). 
H-1B visas would be limited to three years (currently up to six years) 
Employers will have to attest that 1) they are paying the H-1B worker 100% of the salary paid to similarly employed workers at the employer and 105% of the prevailing wage paid to similarly employed workers in the geographic area and 2) there has been no displacement of US workers in the six months prior to and 90 days after the filing of the H-1B application or for the life of the visa and 3) they have attempted to recruit US workers to fill the position before hiring the H-1B employee. "H-1B dependent" employers must show they are taking steps to end dependence on H-1B employees (including operating training programs, paying more than 105% of the prevailing wage to employees, providing opportunities for increases in compensation for US employees, etc.) which result in a decline of H-1B workers of 10% in two consecutive years. H-1B dependent employers are those with fewer than 41 employees and four or more H-1Bs or 41 or more employees and more than 10% have H-1B status. 
For H-1B visas, the "prevailing wage" for an occupational classification could not be considered to vary depending on the characteristics of the employer, except to the extent that there is a difference in working conditions or the functional requirements of the job. However, prevailing wage determinations for academic researchers will be based on the nonprofit sector only. 
F-1 students are now only to be admitted for a proposed period of time at a specified academic level. 
F-1 students must make "normal progress" toward the degree and the INS may grant limited extensions in order to finish studies. 
Students entering the US for English language studies in a course that runs less than six months must apply for a B visa instead of an F-1. 
H-2B visas would be capped at 15,000 annually and the definition of an H-2B worker is modified. 
The bill contains a requirement that universities accepting foreign students must participate in a pilot program to share collected information on foreign students with the US Attorney General. The collected information will include such things as whether the I-20 was issued for an alien, the date and place the visa was issued, whether the alien has enrolled in the university, whether the student is in good standing and whether the student has left or graduated from the university. The money to fund the program will actually be paid in the form of a fee by the foreign student of no more than 0/student.
Miscellaneous provisions
Immunization requirement for lawful permanent residents; 
New certification and English skill requirements for people working in the health care fields; 
Bar on children who the US to attend a private elementary or secondary school switching to public school.
The markup on S. 1394 is expected to begin on November 29th.