The decision to give a green card to a person requesting citizenship has until now been given either by lottery or through a long process of bureaucratic scrutiny that took into account many parameters.
But a new reforms that is sailing through Congress now would allow the selectors of the pool of eligible green card holders to focus on one parameter: the level of skill.
The new reform, if it passes, would take effect in 2017. At that time, permanent residency permits, or green cards, would be awarded according to a merit point system that would give priority to skilled individuals.
The more skilled, the more languages you know, and more importantly if you are already working in the US using special skills in a work setting where the owner of the company does not want to saddle himself with sponsoring the worker, the faster you would find yourself at the front of the line.
The point system that will be employed gives the highest number of points to the person's education according with the degree of educational accomplishment up to 15 points for a doctorate. Each year of work in the United States will also afford the person, depending on the type of employment, points for each year of work for a maximum of 20 point.
More points can be accumulated if your work is in the same field as the degree you hold.
Language skills are also a plus, especially if you hold a certificate that shows your TOEFL score.
Age will also be a factor. The younger you are, the more points you receive, starting at 25 and ending at 38.
A final clause gives the person seeking the green card five points, if that person is from a country that has a low rate of immigration, which would exclude countries with high immigration levels such as Mexico, India and China.
What the administration is trying to accomplish with this system, among other things, is to weed out prospective immigrants according to their country of origin as much as for their educational level.
The current system of lottery that award about 55,000 visas a year do not make any distinction between skilled and unskilled.
Source: France 24 / 4.26.13
No comments:
Post a Comment