Latest US Immigration Bill’s Changes Embedded For International Students

It is a fact that living in foreign countries for accomplishing study-related purposes has become the most significant problem for international students. Several travel-related barriers related to Covid 19 are being implemented, and people face issues understanding how long they will be allowed to live in foreign countries.

In such a situation, the new immigration bill in the United States has been passed. This new immigration bill, which can be regarded as the Citizenship Act 2021 in the United States, will provide legal protections to people who dream of accomplishing a STEM PhD from the United States. This immigration bill is allowing them to live in the United States after graduation. The Bill is permitting “dual Intent.” 

In the following section, a detailed discussion regarding the Bill is going to be elaborated.

A detailed discussion regarding the US Immigration Bill for international students

The US president, Biden, has taken a significant step by considering the requirements of international students. If Congress would approve Biden’s proposal, then researchers, scientists, and engineers would come to the United States more efficiently. In this regard, Biden has said that he wants to propose broad immigration-reform legislation. It would make people belonging to the technology-based sector study and work from the United States. It has already been stated that the Bill is permitting dual intent. Today, the visa for students’ applications is not providing students with the chance to live in the United States after graduation.

Hence, it can be stated that they have a single intent and the intent is all about accomplishing graduation from this country. This is the reason why an F-1 visa is being regarded as a nonimmigrant visa. By considering a Consular officer’s suspicion, it can be stated that applicants sometimes want to stay in the United States even after accomplishing their study. It can be regarded as the biggest reason why the students’ visas are being denied.

In this regard, the pandemic is not the only reason behind such decisions. Even before the Covid 19 phase, approximately a quarter of Visa applications have been turned down. It is not that all students show the willingness to live in the United States after getting their degree. However, some show this kind of intention, and this provision is expected to be helpful for them as it will allow them to get their plan executed. This new plan is expected to help approximately 200,000 immigrants who have grown up under a temporary status. This plan would help them to achieve citizenship in the United States.

According to the Bill, international students who are doing a Ph.D. in STEM or have completed a university degree in the United States would get green cards. In this regard, the essential matter is that the card does not hold any numerical limit. The Bill is also stating that now the F-1 visas would be considered “dual intent” when applications for visas would be submitted.

However, the matter is that students who are doing Ph.D. on biomedical and biological sciences and people associated with health professions would not be provided with this facility as they cannot be regarded as a participant associated with the STEM field.

However, there is a problematic section associated with the Bill. If the Bill would be approved, then the H-1B lottery program would be replaced with wage-based considerations. It is expected to prioritize the cap-subject H-1Bs, and a salary-related issue would be created.

This matter is held from the Trump administrative period, and it has been challenged in Federal court. However, Biden is willing to include this factor in the immigration bill, and it has been told that it is something that they want to change in the H-1B visa petition process.

This matter can be prohibitive for international students. It can also be prohibitive for people who seek employment to get the H-1B visa petition to be approved. As these people do not have adequate experience to get a high-salaried job, they show interest in obtaining an entry-level job. On the other hand, Bill’s provisions might be a bit problematic for smaller employers and startup businesses as they want to involve F-1 students coming out of Master’s programs in their works.

However, for senior employees, the provisions would be favorable. No matter how talented they are or how they contribute to society and the economy, the provisions will be advantageous to them. In the following section, the importance of understanding the Bill is going to be highlighted.

The importance of the Bill

This Bill is found telling a lot of things about the administration plan of Biden. Apart from that, the Bill is also providing information regarding the immigration reform entail policies. The White House has stated that they are open to pass smaller targeted bills, and they have an intention to cover some of the provisions that have been highlighted in the Bill. This is why people have to get a clear perception regarding the provisions that have been highlighted in the Bill.

 In the above-stated section, it has already been stated that this Bill will significantly impact students associated with the STEM field. Apart from that, it is expected to dramatically impact high salaried employees and the employers of startup companies. This is the reason why all of them are required to develop a clear perception regarding all of the provisions that have been highlighted in the Bill.

When students associated with the STEM field will be able to understand the obligations of the Bill, it would be possible for them to take advantage of it. On the other hand, to get the benefits of the Bill, high salaried employees have to understand the obligations, and the employers of startup companies would be able to adopt proper strategies that can help them to overcome the issues that this obligation would cause to their employment process when they would develop a clear idea regarding the provision highlighted in the Bill.