Indian Americans ask Senators to support immigration reform

WASHINGTON: A group of Indian American IT-professionals have asked US Senators to support a key immigration-reform legislation, which if passed would drastically reduce the "Green Card" waiting period for highly- skilled workers from countries like India and China.

"This as an important step in the effort to reform immigration policy in response to the changing global situation," said the Silicon Valley-based Global Indian Technology Professionals Association (GITPRO) in a statement today.

Currently pending the Congress, Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act (HR 3012) proposes to eliminate the per nation cap on employment-based visas in favour of a more fair, "first come, first serve" system, where all green-card applicants meeting the requirements will have the same waiting period.

"The bill will also reduce the uncertainty faced by organisations in retaining experienced resources critical to support the business," said Khanderao Kand of GITPRO.

GITPRO asked US Senators to support the legislation in the Congress.

The Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act, contains a technical fix to eliminate per-country limits on allotment of high-skilled green cards without adding a single additional green card to the system, he said.

The bill also increases per-country limits from seven to 15 per cent in the family-based immigration system, which will help reduce the huge backlogs in the family based system as well, without adding any new visa numbers, GITPRO said in its statement.

Launched in 2009, GITPRO is a global networking platform for Indian Technology Professionals for their professional and self-development and their contribution back to the profession, society and people of US and India.