04/14/2008: Sen. Cornyn (TX) Introduced Global Competitivess Act of 2008 in the Senate on 04/10/2008

• Last Thursday, Senator Cornyn from Texas introduced this bill , S. 2839, which has been referred for action to the Senate Judiciary Committee. The following is the outlines of the bill as prepared by the Senator:
  
  • H-2B Temporary Worker Program
    • Extends the H-2B Returning Worker provisions for 3 fiscal years
  • H-1B Temporary Worker Program
    • Recaptures 150,000 unused H-1B visas which will be distributed over a 3 year period
    • Imposes a H-1B recapture fee of $1,500
    • Increases H-1B visa levels from 65,000 to 115,000 for fiscal years 2009 through 2011
    • Increases the advanced degree cap for H-1B workers with masters degrees or higher from 20k to 30k for fiscal years 2009 to 2011
    • Increases the H-1B petition fee from $1,500 to $2,250
  • Employment Based Visas
    • Recaptures approximately 218,000 unused employment-based visas
    • Distributes 61,000 of the recaptured EB visas to nurses and physical therapists (and spouses and children accompanying or following to join)
    • Imposes an EB visa recapture fee of $1,500
    • Exempts health care facilities in underserved areas from paying the additional EB recapture fee
  • Prohibitions on Outsourcing and H-1B Only Recruiting
    • Requires U.S. employers to provide prospective H-1B applications with a copy of their approved H-1B petition
    • Requires all U.S. employers to agree not to advertise the jobs solely to H-1B or indicate that H-1B workers will be given priority
    • Prohibits U.S. employers from outsourcing the labor of an H-1B worker by requiring that the alien work only at the worksite of the employer or its affiliates and subsidiaries in the United States
    • Bars U.S. employers who have an employee total that includes more than 50% H-1B workers from filing more than 1,000 H-1B petitions in a given fiscal year
    • Sunsets advertising and outsourcing provisions in 3 years
  • Early Adjustment Provisions
    • Authorizes aliens who are seeking permanent employment-based visas to file for adjustment of status early if the visa number availability date shown on the State Department Visa bulletin is no more than 24 months out from the date of filing
    • Imposes an additional $500 fee for early adjustment filing
    • Revises distribution of fees to increase funding of STEM scholarship programs
  • H and L Enforcement Provisions
    • Authorizing DHS and DOL to investigate H and L visa fraud
    • Revising the conditions that will result in finding a violation of the provisions of a labor condition application
    • Requires information and document sharing between DHS and DOL for H and L fraud investigations and noncompliance
    • Increases frequencies of H and L program audits
    • Doubles the penalties for violations of the labor condition application provisions
    • Adds whistleblower protections for L workers, including requiring back-pay for those harmed by an employer violation
    • Limits eligibility for L intra-company transferee status for aliens working with start-up companies
  • Miscellaneous Provisions
    • Extends E-Verify authorization
    • Modifies the H and L fraud account provisions to allow USCIS flexibility in terms of use of funds for benefit fraud investigations
• Please stay tuned to this webside for the development of this bill in the Senate Judiciary Committee.