Good News and Bad News on the Immigration Legislation Front By: Beth Robertie, Associate 今天早上国会并没有把上月Senate通过的增加H-1B及绿卡名额加入其S1932的条款里。这意味着很多人等待将落空。至于何时国会再对此一条款重新审理不得而知。至少要等明年的会期才有希望。我们若有新的消息会随时宣布。 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. ______________________________________________________________________________ 本文由范毅禹律师事务所提供 本律师事务所精办各类劳工应聘及专业移民申请 (包括H-1，L-1，EB-1，EB-2，NIW，劳工卡，绿卡等申请)。所有申请由多位美籍律师及拥有15年经验的范毅禹律师亲自处理，我所并特设中英移民网站。内有最新移民新闻资讯及由律师主持的移民问答集，欢迎读者流览查询。 www.Fan-Law.com CALIFORNIA : Fan, Fitzpatrick & Thompson, LLP. 370 E. Glenarm St., Pasadena , CA 91106 Tel: 626-799-3999 Fax: 626-799-9966 MARYLAND : Fan, Fitzpatrick & Thompson, LLP. 230 North Washington Street, Suite 400 , Rockville , MD 20850 Tel: 301-251-2636 Fax: 301-251-0313