Each year, more than 30 million non-immigrants cross our borders. These travelers include students, tourists, workers and businesspeople. Many of these visitors overstay their visas and remain here, hoping to elude detection by our Immigration and Customs Enforcement service. Our government also has mutual agreements with about 30 friendly nations that permit citizens to cross each other's borders without visas or any prescreening. About 25 million people enter our country this way each year. Each year our State Dept. releases a report on the number of immigrant visa applicants who are waiting in line for their priority dates to become current so they can apply for an immigrant visa (green card) through a U.S. embassy or consulate in a foreign country.

Many people applying for visas already have a family member working in the U.S. These workers include EB-2 (workers with advanced degrees or exceptional ability), EB-3 (skilled and other workers), and EB-5 (investors) However, there is a growing backlog – delays in excess of 180 days - which has kept families separated for many years, and in some cases have split families apart. Currently, the visa backlog is estimated to be about 4 million applicants. Advocates claim the inability to bring family members here makes it harder for U.S. companies to attract the workers they need, and workers who do come may be less productive if forced to endure a long separation from their families.

Advocates claim this system is inefficient and wish to change the way that our employment-based green card system works by eliminating the ‘per country cap’ which limits the number of green cards that may be issued to applicants each year depending on their country of origin. Advocates wish to remove per-country caps for employment-based visas issued on a “first-come, first-serve basis” which would give every immigrant an equal chance at obtaining permanent residency by issuing green cards by application date rather than country of origin. This would clear backlogs for skilled workers from large countries, allowing them to come to the United States to work and obtain permanent residence, along with their spouses and children.

Proposed Legislation: Reintroduction of S.3721 - Resolving Extended Limbo for Immigrant Employees and Families Act or the RELIEF Act or the RELIEF Act (117th Congress 2021-2022)
Prospective Sponsor: Sen. Richard Durbin (IL)