Comments on the Senate Passed Fairness for High Skilled Immigrants Act

December 4, 2020 10:08AM

By David J. Bier

点评参议院通过的“高技术移民法案”

2020年12月4日 点评人：David J. Bier

The Senate passed an amended version of the Fairness for High Skilled Immigrants Act (S. 386/H.R. 1044). The bill has already passed the House of Representatives on a massive 365-65 vote. Since then, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) repeatedly attempted to pass the bill on “unanimous consent” under which any member can object—which led to deals with Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Rand Paul (R-KY), David Purdue (R-GA), and Dick Durbin (D-IL) that amended the House bill. Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) who was the latest member to object lifted his hold last night, allowing final passage.

参议院日前通过了修订版的高技术移民法案(S.386/H.R.1044)。 该法案之前在众议院以365赞成比65反对大比重投票通过。此后，在与Chuck Grassley（爱荷华州共和党）、Rand Paul（肯塔基州共和党）、David Purdue（佐治亚州共和党）和Dick Durbin（伊利诺伊州民主党）等参与其修订的参议员协议之后， Mike Lee （犹他州共和党) 参议员屡次试图以“一致同意”（只要有一人反对，决议即告失败）通过了此法案。而最后一个反对此法案的Rick Scott（佛罗里达州共和党）参议员，也在昨晚表示同意通过。

The Senate version is now substantially different from the House version with deleterious provisions to which the House Judiciary Committee has already voiced opposition, but it has also committed to finding common ground to resolve. 

至此，该法案的参议院版与众议院版在影响深远的若干规定上有本质不同：众议院司法委员会已经表示反对，但表示仍有“求同存异”的探讨空间。

What’s in the Fairness for High Skilled Immigrants Act, December 2020 version?

2020年12月通过的 高技术移民法案 有哪些主要内容？

Green card reforms:

绿卡改革

1. Phases out employment-based per country limits on green cards: The main purpose of the legislation is to treat all employment-based immigrant visa applicants on a first-come, first-served basis without regard to birthplace. Under current law, immigrants from no single birthplace can receive more than 7% of the total number of immigrant visas or green cards issued in a year unless they would otherwise go unused. The effect of this provision is that while Indians are half the skilled employer-sponsored applicants, they receive just 10 percent of those green cards and—as a result—are nearly 90 percent of the backlogged applicants.

逐步淘汰对每个申请人出生地国家职业绿卡的限制：该立法的主要目的是按照先到先得的原则对待所有职业技术移民签证申请人，而不考虑其出生地。根据现行法律，单一出生地的移民一年内所获得的移民签证或绿卡的总数不得超过总数的7％，即便其他区域的额度并未用尽。这项规定导致，尽管印度人占据雇主资助的职业技术申请人数量的一半，但他们只获得发放绿卡的10％，结果他们占积压申请人中的将近90％。

• Comments: The House bill is the same. Basically, this provision is the only reason the bill has made it as far as it has. The discrimination against Indian skilled immigrants mean, as I’ve estimated before, that new Indian green card applicants will almost certainly never receive green cards in their lifetime. More than 200,000 of the 700,000 Indians in line will likely die before they receive their green cards. The fact that other immigrants almost immediately receive their green cards makes the system massively unfair and is already causing skilled workers to leave the country. Indians and Chinese—the only two significantly backlogged applicants—also receive wage offers significantly higher than those for the average applicant from other countries.
• 评论：众议院版法案基本相同。基本上，这项新规定是该法案制定且能通过的唯一原因。正如我之前估计的那样，对印度职业技术移民的歧视意味着，新的印度绿卡申请人几乎肯定无法在活着的时候收到绿卡。在排队的700,000印度人中，有超过200,000可能会在收到绿卡之前便已离世。而其他出生地移民几乎立即获得绿卡的事实致使该系统的严重不公平，并已导致职业技术雇员离开美国。并且，印度人和中国人（仅有的两个严重积压的申请人出生地）的工资要比其他国家的平均申请者要高出很多。

2. Provides for an 11-year phase out period: The bill’s green card changes will only take effect on October 1, 2022. For the EB-2 and EB-3 categories for non-executive level employees of U.S. businesses, the bill guarantees immigrants which are not from the top two origin countries (India and China) a certain percentage of the green cards for 9 years: year 1 (30%), year 2 (25%), year 3 (20%), year 4 (15%), years 5 and 6 (10%), and years 7 through 9 (5%). No more than 25 percent of these “reserved” green cards can go to immigrants from any single country. No more than 85 percent of the other “unreserved” green cards can go to a single country (India). In addition, a minimum of 5.75% of all EB-2 or EB-3 green cards will go to immigrants from these non-top 2 countries for 9 years prioritizing spouses and minor children of immigrants already in the United States and immigrants awaiting visas abroad. It’s unclear if the 5.75% counts toward the prior reservation or must be in addition to it. This ambiguity means it is not possible to say with certainty how long it will take for the current backlog to be processed under the bill.

提供11年的过渡期：法案的绿卡改革将于2022年10月1日生效。对于美国企业非高管员工的EB-2和EB-3类别，该法案保证除来自前两个出生地（即印度和中国）的移民，获得绿卡连续9年占一定比例：第一年（30％），第二年（25％），第三年（20％），第四年（ 15％），第5和6年（10％）以及第7至9年（5％）。这些“保留的”绿卡中，最多只能有25％归属任何同一个国家的移民。其他“未保留的”绿卡中，最多只能有85％归属一个国家（即印度）。此外，至少5.75％的EB-2或EB-3绿卡将分发给非印度及中国的移民，为期9年，且优先考虑人已在美国的移民和等待海外签证的移民配偶及其未成年子女。目前尚不清楚5.75％是计入预先保留，或是额外的保留。规定此模棱两可意味着，尚无法明确规划在该法案下处理当前积压需要多长时间。

• Comments: The House bill would have taken effect immediately and only contained a 3-year phaseout with set asides for non-Indian or Chinese applicants of 15% in the first year and 10% in the next two years. Eleven years is an incredibly long time to continue a system based on birthplace discrimination. It will probably take about 13 years to process all existing Indian applicants under this system, while new applicants continue to take priority. If only applicants who are not currently in the United States received priority, that would be a rational basis for discrimination since those already in the United States are already benefiting more from the U.S. immigration system than those abroad. But these provisions continue the discrimination that the bill is designed to eliminate for a decade (albeit to a lesser degree).
• 评论：众议院版法案则是立即生效，且仅包含3年的过渡期，对非印度或中国的申请人占用名额在第一年为15％，在之后两年则为10％。十一年对于持续基于出生地歧视的体系来说是一个非常长的时间。在这个体系下，所有现存的印度申请人大概需要约13年的时间来处理，而新申请人仍将继续处于优先地位。如果只有目前不在美国的申请人获得优先权，这将是歧视的理性基础，因为人已在美国的申请人比在国外的已经从美国移民制度中受益更多。但是该法案的相关规定导致其本旨在消除的这类歧视又将延续十年（尽管程度较小）。

3. Guarantee for nurses and physical therapists: The bill carves out 4,400 EB-3 green cards (11% of the category) for nurses and physical therapists—defined as “shortage occupations”—for 7 years. The spouses and minor children would not count against this limit but would still receive green cards at the same time.

对护士和理疗师职业移民的保障：该法案为护士和理疗师（定义为“短缺职业”）职业单独划分了4,400张 EB-3类绿卡（占类别的11％），为期7年。且配偶和未成年子女将不计入这一限额，仍将同时获得绿卡。

• Comments: The House bill has no similar provision. This essentially creates a temporary new category for legal immigrants who DOL deems to be in short supply. I have no problem with this. It is as arbitrary as the rest of the employment-based categorization scheme and does not involve birthplace discrimination.
• 评论：众议院版法案没有类似规定。这实际上为劳工部DOL定义的短缺职业合法移民开创了一个临时的新类别。笔者对此没有意见。它与其他基于职业的分类方案一样主观，不涉及出生地歧视。

4. Caps H-1B visa holders and H-4 visa holders (or those who held H-4 status in the last 2 years) to no more than 70% of all employment-based green cards during the first 9 years after implementation and 50% for all subsequent years.

在实施后的第一个9年内，对H-1B和H-4签证持有人（或最近2年内持有H-4身份的人）的上限不超过所有职业绿卡的70％，此后年份的50％。

• Comments: This is a way of continuing discrimination against Indians indirectly because Indians are 70 percent of H-1B visa holders. Moreover, nearly all of the backlogged immigrants in the green card queue from India are working on the H-1B visa. This provision undermines the purpose of the bill and makes little sense as an anti-H-1B measure because it forces H-1B holders to remain on the temporary status longer than they would otherwise. We don’t know the exact breakdown of the status of those in the green card backlog from India, but it’s likely at least 90 percent H-1B visa holders, so this will delay the receipt of green cards to backlogged Indians. If not for the backlog, the effect would not be very great. About 70 percent of EB-2 and EB-3 green card applicants in 2019 were on the H-1B visa based on Department of Labor’s labor certification data. It is likely less than this in the EB-1 category (multinational executives, those with extraordinary ability, etc.) who have other temporary visa options available or come from abroad, and there probably are very few in the EB-4 special immigrant and EB-5 investor categories, so assuming only 50 percent of EB-1 is on H-1B visas, the number of new H-1B green card applicants is probably only slightly higher than 50 percent. That said, it would hamstring any increase in that program.
• 评论：这仍是一种持续地间接歧视印度人的方式，因为H-1B签证持有者中印度人占70％。甚至，印度绿卡排队中几乎所有积压的移民都在持H-1B签证工作。该条款规定破坏了法案的目的，并且作为反H-1B措施没有任何意义，因为它迫使H-1B持有人在临时身份上的停留时间比原本更长。印度籍绿卡积压者的确切身份分类不得而知，但H-1B签证持有者可能至少占90％，因此这将继续延迟积压的印度人收到绿卡。如果不是为了解决积压，该法案的效果将大打折扣。根据美国劳工部的劳工证书数据，2019年约70％的EB-2和EB-3绿卡申请人持有H-1B签证。而在具有其他临时签证选择或来自国外的EB-1类别（跨国企业高管，z杰出技术人才等）中，这一比例可能要低于此水平；且在EB-4特殊移民和EB-5投资移民类别中H-1B就更少了。因此，假设EB-1签证中只有50％是H-1B签证，那么新的H-1B绿卡申请人数可能仅略高于50％。也就是说，这将阻碍该程序的任何进程。

5. Raises the family-sponsored per country limit on green cards to 15 percent: Family-sponsored preference categories also currently have a 7% limit on green cards for immigrants from individual birthplaces. The bill more than doubles that limit to 15% increasing in absolute terms from about 15,820 to 33,900. This will primarily benefit long-backlogged immigrants from Mexico and the Philippines, but also India and China.

把按国别的家庭移民绿卡限制提高到15％：目前家庭移民类别绿卡按申请人出生地的限制为7％。法案增加了两倍多，从绝对值15,820增至33,900，限制为15％。这将主要使墨西哥和菲律宾以及印度和中国的长期积压移民受益。

• Comments: The House bill is the same. This provision does not go as far as the employment-based provision in ending discrimination based on birthplace in the family-sponsored system, but it is a significant benefit to long-backlogged, family-sponsored immigrants who are mostly waiting for immigrant visas abroad.
• 评论：众议院版法案相同。这项规定与职业移民的规定相比，在消除基于出生地的歧视方面并没有更大变化，但对于长期积压的家庭移民（主要是在国外等待移民签证的移民）而言，则是一个重大利好。

6. Bars adjustment of status to all Chinese “affiliated” with the Chinese Communist Party: The new language (presumably proposed by Sen. Scott) requires DHS to “not adjust status of any alien affiliated with the military forces of the People’s Republic of China or the Chinese Communist Party” (CCP). This is similar to the existing ground of inadmissibility in 8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(3)(D) for members or those “affiliated with” any communist party anywhere. However, the existing ground of inadmissibility has exceptions for involuntary membership, past membership, or close family members. However, the current ground applies to both adjustment of status in the United States as well as consular processing abroad. Effectively, this provision requires all Chinese immigrants to apply for immigrant visas at consulates abroad.

禁止调整与中国共产党有“联系”的所有中国人的身份：新的措辞（可能由Scott参议员提出）要求国土安全部“不得调整与中国军队或中国共产党（CCP）有联系的任何外国人的身份。这与8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(3)(D) 中现有的不可接纳理由条款相似：适用于共产党员或与任何地方的共产党“有联系”的人员。但是，现有的不可接纳理由条款设置了例外情况：非自愿入党人员，过往成员或成员亲属。但是，当前的理由既适用于美国的身份调整，也适用于国外的领事处理。实际上，该规定要求所有中国移民在国外领事馆申请移民签证。

• Comments: This is just more de facto national origin discrimination. Most Chinese have no ideological connection to the CCP even if they join it. The main reason to have joined the party is that it facilitates promotions, especially within government or state-owned enterprises but overall. Lotus Yuen of The Atlantic has called membership the “ultimate resumé booster” in China. It can also allow Chinese to avoid direct state persecution. While the government obviously has an interest in stopping actual espionage, this ban is overbroad. The United States should want communists to experience the superiority of the U.S. system and encourage defectors from communist China. The United States has benefited greatly from Chinese immigrant innovators in science, technology, and medicine, and this ban would push inventors back toward the communist regime. That said, because it only applies to adjustment in the United States, the practical effect amounts to an expensive inconvenience rather than an outright ban.
• 评论：这实际上只是国籍歧视。即使加入中国共产党，大多数中国人与中共也没有思想联系。加入该党的主要原因是，其他领域也罢，但特别是在政府或国有企业内部，它提供了晋升通道。Lotus Yuen曾在大西洋月刊发表：将党员资格称为中国的“简历终极助推器”。它还可以使中国人避免直接受到官方起诉。尽管美国政府显然有兴趣制止实际的间谍活动，但这项禁令过于宽泛。美国应该希望共产党人体验美国制度的优越性，从而鼓励脱离共产主义中国。美国从科学，技术和医学等领域中国籍移民创新者那里获取巨大利益，而这项禁令将使这些创新者重返共产主义政权。即便如此，因为它仅适用于美国国内的身份调整，实际的效果不是彻底的禁止，而是更加耗费的不便。

Adjustment of status from temporary visa to green card

从临时签证到绿卡的身份调整

7. “Early filing” (H-1B lite status): Allows backlogged temporary workers to receive a separate, limited, 3-year, renewable employment authorization (apart from their underlying status) 2 years after their employer petition was approved by filing an adjustment of status to legal permanent residence application (i.e. green card application) prior to a green card number being available under the caps. You can credit Sen. Durbin with this provision. Currently, anyone whose adjustment of status application is pending for at least 180 days can receive an employment authorization document (EAD). This EAD allows them to work for any employer that they want while remaining in line based on the original employers’ petition. The original employer’s petition remains valid so long as they work in “the same or a similar occupational classification.” However, you currently cannot apply for legal permanent residence prior to a green card or immigrant visa number being available. The bill states that these new “early filers” could also receive this same authorization. However, the bill adds new requirements for this authorization. The job would have to have wages “commensurate with” those for the employer’s similarly situated U.S. workers in the area.

“提早申请”（简易H-1B身份）：允许积压的临时雇员在雇主申请被批准后2年获得单独的，有限的，为期3年的可再续签的就业许可（在他们的基础身份之外）。在限额之内提供绿卡编号之前，先将身份调整为合法的永久居留申请（即绿卡申请）。此条款可归功于Durbin参议员。当前，身份调整申请待决时长超过180天的任何人都可以收到就业许可证（EAD）。EAD允许他们为想要的任何雇主工作，同时仍与原始雇主的申请书保持一致。原始雇主的申请书只要在“相同或相似的职业分类”中工作，便保持有效。但是，申请人目前无法在获得绿卡或移民签证号码之前申请合法永久居留权。该法案指出，这些新的“早期申报者”也可以获得同样的授权。但是，该法案为此授权增添了新的要求。该工作的工资必须与该地区雇主给类似的美国员工工资“相匹配”。

If the employer had fewer than 2 such employees, it would have to attest that they were similar to the wages for similar U.S. workers in the area. The worker would have to file a Confirmation of Bona Fide Job Offer or Portability with a request for employment authorization. The employment authorization would last for three year increments with renewals, which is better than the adjustment of status EAD available now (which is only a 1 or 2 years). The worker would also have to provide a signed letter from their employer with the required attestations. A Confirmation of Bona Fide Job Offer or Portability would need to be filed (again if necessary) within 12 months of the green card application being adjudicated. If the Confirmation of Bona Fide Job Offer or Portability was deemed not to meet the requirements, the green card application would be denied. The minor children and certain spouses of temporary workers would also not benefit from this provision. The cost would be $2,000 for each Confirmation of Bona Fide Job Offer or Portability, in addition to the cost of the adjustment of status green card application. Half the fees would go to immigration adjudications and half into the general fund of the U.S. Treasury.

如果雇主的此类雇员少于2名，则必须证明他们与该地区类似美国员工的工资相符。员工必须提交一份“实际工作机会确认或合适的雇佣许可申请”。雇佣许可的续签期限为三年，这比现行的EAD（仅1年或2年）身份调整要好。员工还必须提供其雇主的签名信，并附有必要的证明。在裁定绿卡申请后的12个月内（必要时再次）需要提交一份实际工作机会确认或合适的雇佣许可申请。如果认为“实际工作机会确认或合适的雇佣许可申请”不符合要求，绿卡申请将被拒绝。未成年子女和某些临时雇员的配偶也不会从这项规定中受益。除了调整身份绿卡申请的费用外，每次实际工作机会确认或合适的雇佣许可申请的费用为2,000美元。一半的费用将用于移民裁决，另一半将收归美国财政部的普通基金。

• Comments: The senators have made this provision about as watered down as they can get it, but it is still the most important unequivocally positive change from the language that the senators have added. It would make it easier for H-1B workers to change jobs. Currently, H-1Bs stuck in the backlog have to renew every single year, which is costly and problematic if the government decides to readjudicate the underlying H-1B petition. It would also allow other temporary workers, such as those on Optional Practical Training, to extend their status when they otherwise would not be able to, potentially enabling them to avoid having to obtain an H-1B at all.
• 评论：参议员们已尽其所能地将这项规定“打折扣”，但与参议员所添加的语言相比，这毫无疑问仍然是最重要的积极变化。 这将使得H-1B员工更容易更换工作。目前，积压在案的H-1B必须每年更新一次，如果政府决定重新审理正在进行的H-1B申请，这些都是成本昂贵且会造成潜问题。新规还将允许其他临时员工（例如OPT员工）在原本无法获得的条件下延长其身份，从而有可能完全避免启动H-1B流程。

8. Prevents “aging out” of children of temporary workers in the backlog who have filed an adjustment of status application under the early filing provision. Currently, a dependent child of an H-1B worker loses their status on their 21^st birthday. They also lose their eligibility for a green card at the same time. The bill would provide them both a status past their 21^st birthday.

防止根据提早备案规定提出身份调整申请的积压临时员工的子女由于“超龄”而失去资格。目前，一名H-1B员工的受抚养子女在21岁生日时便失去了身份。他们也同时失去了获得绿卡的资格。而该法案将为在他们超过21岁仍然提供身份。

• Comments: This is an unambiguously positive provision.
• 评论：毋庸置疑这是条积极的规定。

H-1B high skilled temporary worker reforms (none in House bill)

H-1B 高技术临时员工改革（众议院版法案没有体现）

9. Requires the posting of H-1B jobs for new H-1Bs on government website for 30 days. If the Department of Labor (DOL) cannot get the website up and running within 180 days, the bill allows just a 30-day extension. If the website still cannot work, the H-1B program could not permit additional H-1B applications.

要求将新H-1B申请的H-1B职位在政府网站上发布30天。如果劳工部无法在180天内启动此网站，则该法案只允许30天的延长期。如果该网站届时仍然无法正常运行，则H-1B程序将不允许接收新的H-1B申请。

• Comments: This seems like it is risking a lot for DOL to create a working website in less than a year. Forcing employers to advertise positions that may or may not actually be available makes little sense.
• 评论：对于DOL而言，在不到一年的时间内创建可正常运行的网站似乎将具很大风险。强迫雇主宣传可能对实际提供的职位并没什么意义。

10. Bans advertising only to H-1Bs.

禁止仅仅只向H-1B身份员工投放广告。

• Comments: This provision is not unreasonable.
• 评论：这条款并非无凭无据。

11. Bans recruiting primarily H-1Bs.

禁止主要雇佣H-1B。

• Comments: Unlike the prior ban on advertising, this provision undermines a major purpose of the H-1B visa, which is to allow employers to hire workers for specialty positions. This tells businesses that they cannot simply recruit and hire a specific foreign worker or workers who they believe will fill whatever niche they need. Moreover, the “primarily” implies that companies would have to spend at least 50 percent of their time recruiting U.S. workers, even if they had already decided that a specific noncitizen was the person that they wanted. It treats the H-1B program like the lesser-skilled H-2 programs where the main purpose of the hire is labor, not skills. Moreover, it would greatly harm businesses that already employ the worker under a different visa category (L-1, F-1, J-1, etc.).
• 评论：与先前的广告禁令不同，该条款破坏了H-1B签证的主要目的之一，原目的是允许雇主雇用员工担任特殊职位。这告诉企业，他们不能简单地招聘和雇用特定的一个或多个外国员工，以填补他们认为的任何特定需求职位。而且，“主要”意味着即使公司已经确定特定的非公民是他们想要的人选，公司也将不得不花费至少50％的时间来招聘美国公民。它像低技能的H-2计划一样对待H-1B计划，在该计划中，雇用的主要目的是获得劳动力，而不是特殊技能。此外，这将极大损害已经雇用不同签证类别（如L-1，F-1，J-1等）员工的企业。

Employers could probably evade this requirement by making the job descriptions so demanding that only an existing employee could fill the position, as they commonly do under the permanent labor certification process. But why do the authors think it helps U.S. workers to create a bunch of sham job advertisements? The Justice Department’s recent Facebook lawsuit highlights the perils of handing such vague language to any administration. This concern is compounded because the bill also allows DOL to troll through companies’ files whenever it wants without any underlying complaint from an employee or U.S. worker. 

雇主有很大可能通过做出职务说明来规避这一要求，就像通常在永久劳工证明程序下所做的那样，要求仅现有雇员才能担任该职位。但是为什么立法者认为制造大量假工作广告有利于美国员工呢？司法部最近在Facebook提起的诉讼中强调了这种含糊的语言给行政部门工作带来的危害。这种担忧使情况更加复杂，因为该法案还允许DOL在没有任何雇员或美国员工的实质投诉前提下，仅在其认为需要时随意查阅公司文件。

12. Requires providing every W-2 for every H-1B worker employed by the company over whatever period DOL wants.

要求在DOL认为需要时，公司向其提交任何时段的每个H-1B雇员的每个W-2工资证明。

• Comments: This provision would impose a significant administrative burden for no upside. The H-1B process is already too time-consuming and expensive.
• 评论：此规定将带来巨大的行政负担而没有任何好处。 H-1B流程已经非常耗时耗力。

13. Bans hiring new H-1Bs if an employer has more than 50% of its workforce on H-1Bs or L-1s (for skilled intracompany transfers from abroad).

禁止已有持H-1B或L-1签证（同公司跨境技术员工）雇员超过50%的雇主雇佣新的H-1B员工。

• Comments:As far as I can tell, only two large companies come close to fitting this profile: Cognizant (49.999%) and Tech Mahindra (50.3%), though a few others may be close if H-1B visas were more readily available. The provision sets a dangerous precedent that H-1B-heavy companies should be legally discouraged. But it’s unclear what the purpose of this restriction is, except to target certain companies that specialize in certain tech services to the benefit of others who are more widely diversified. Even if the requirement was only 25 percent, it would only force Cognizant and other specialized companies to sell or merge with a larger company with more employees, not change any business practices or cease hiring H-1B workers.
• 评论：据我所知，只有两家大公司目前接近此条款限额：Cognizant（49.999％）和Tech Mahindra（50.3％），但如果更容易获得H-1B签证，还有其他几家公司可能也接近。该规定开创了危险的先例，即在法律上不鼓励公司雇佣H-1B员工。但是，目前尚不清楚此限制的目的是什么，除了针对某些专门从事特定科技服务的公司，而使其他多元化程度更高的公司受益。即使该要求限额降至25％，也只会迫使Cognizant和其他专业公司自行出售或与拥有更多员工的大公司合并，而不会改变任何商业惯例或停止雇用H-1B员工。

14. Requires DOL to charge a fee for H-1B labor condition applications (LCAs) to cover the cost of processing.

要求DOL开始对H-1B雇工征收LCA申请费以承担处理成本。

• Comments: The bill also says that the fee could be used for “administration, oversight, investigation, and enforcement.” If the purpose of the fee is to cover the cost of the application, that’s reasonable. If the purpose is to force compliant employers to cover the costs of DOL actions against noncompliant employers, that’s unfair. This authority should be at least clarified.
• 评论：该法案还指出，该费用可用于“行政，监督，调查和执行等”。如果收费的目的是支付申请费用，那是合理的。如果目的是强迫合规雇主承担针对不合规雇主的DOL诉讼费用，那是不公平的。此授权至少应该对此做出澄清。

15. Bans B-1 temporary business visas for anyone who would “normally” be classifiable as an H-1B:

禁止批准任何“通常”会被归类为H-1B签证的B-1临时商务签证申请：

• Comments: This provision is unambiguously negative. Foreigners visiting the United States “temporarily for business” can receive a B-1 visa if they .The State Department has stated since the 1960s that in cases where a person who could qualify as an H-1B is only coming for a short period, they are “more appropriately” classified as a B-1 so long as they are paid from sources abroad. In a proposed rule, the comment period of which ends in December 21, the State Department is proposing its own reversal of this policy. Presumably this legislative provision is also intended to stop this practice, though the word “normally” adds some ambiguity. The “B-1 in lieu of H-1B” option is important because there is no other option specifically for skilled professionals on short-term assignments, especially those that come up suddenly and need to be completed quickly. 
• 评论：这项规定无疑是负面的。如果外国人赴美“暂时处理商务”，他们将获得B-1签证。国务院表示，自1960年代以来，有资格作为H-1B资格的人仅短期逗留，只要他们从国外获得薪酬，就被“更恰当地”归类为B-1签证。在一项拟议的法规中，其意见征询期将于12月21日结束，国务院正在提议自己撤销这一政策。尽管“通常”一词增加了一些灰色地带，但该立法条文大概也旨在阻止这种做法。 “用B-1代替H-1B”这一选项很重要，因为没有其他选项专门适用于短期任务的专业人员，尤其对于那些突然发生且需要快速完成的任务。

U.S. businesses contracting with foreign companies, foreign multinationals investing in the United States, or foreign companies without a physical presence in the United States use this option, but it’s unclear how widespread it is because the State Department doesn’t separately record B-1s-in-lieu-of-H-1Bs from the total 38,000 B-1s. In 2010, however, the State Department stated that the consulates in India (the largest source of H-1Bs) made “fewer than 1,000” such grants against nearly 60 times as many H-1Bs. Nonetheless, this rule directly restricts legal trade, travel, and employment to no benefit to the United States.

与外国公司签约的美国企业，在美国投资的外籍跨国公司或在美国没有实体的外国公司都适用此选项，但目前尚不清楚它的广泛性，因为国务院没有单独记录总共38,000 B-1签证中的“B-1替代H-1B“。然而，早在2010年，国务院曾表示，印度领事馆（H-1B的最大来源）提供了“不到1000个”此类批准，而H-1B签证的数量则是其近60倍。但是，该规则直接限制了合法贸易，旅行和就业，对美国没有任何好处。

16. Requires employers that retaliate against people who “reasonably believe” are disclosing evidence of an H-1B violation to pay backpay.

要求雇主禁止对“有理由相信”的人进行报复，如有人提供披露违反H-1B规定的证据，其欠薪必须得到支付。

• Comments: This is an extension of current law prohibiting employers from retaliation by explicitly requiring them to pay backpay.
• 评论：这是对现行法规的扩展，它通过明确要求雇主支付欠薪以禁止其进行打击报复。

17. Requires DOL to review H-1B LCAs for “fraud or misrepresentation” rather than only for “completeness and obvious inaccuracies”.

要求DOL审查H-1B LCA的“欺诈或失实陈述”，而不仅仅是“完整性和明显的不准确性”。

• Comments: This undermines the type of expedited review that LCAs receive. As soon as adjudicators must undertake a more substantive review than completeness and obvious inaccuracies (such as, an internal inconsistency), the review will add significantly more time and expense to an already expensive and time-consuming process.
• 评论：这破坏了接收LCA后快速审查的类型。一旦审查者必须进行比“完整性和明显不准确性”（例如内部意见不一致）更为实质性的审查，那么该审查就会在时间和费用上本来就很昂贵且耗时的流程基础上，再大大增加成本。

18. Requires employers pay at least the actual wages paid to similar U.S. workers in the local area. .

要求雇主至少支付类似当地美国员工的实际工资。

• Comments: This provision extends a current provision of the law to state the “actual wages” must be based only on wages of workers in the area of intended employment. There is also a slight tightening in how it defines similar U.S. workers from “similar experience and qualifications” to “substantially the same duties and responsibilities.” In some cases, using only U.S. workers in one area might raise the wage in some cases, while it might lower the wage in other cases. Again, narrowing the workers to those with “substantially similar duties and responsibilities” would have the same ambiguous effect.
• 评论：此条款扩展了的现行法规，即规定“实际工资”必须仅基于预期就业地区员工的工资。从“相似的经验和资历”到“基本相同的职责和责任”，它对相似的美国员工的定义也略有收紧。某些情况下，在一个地区仅使用美国员工可能会提高工资，而在其他情况下则可能会降低工资。同样，将员工范围缩小到“职责和责任基本相似”的员工，将导致相同的模棱两可效果。

19. Vastly expands DOL audit and investigation authority:
    • Allows DOL to conduct compliance surveys or annual audits of any H-1B employer.
    • Requires audits of anyone with 100 H-1B workers if more than 15% of their employees.
    • Allows investigations based on anonymous sources not in the form of a complaint from workers or other harmed parties.
    • Allows DOL to audit or investigate based on information in an LCA.
    • Eliminates the requirement that the DOL secretary personally certify that reasonable cause exists for an H-1B investigation.
    • Removes the 60-day time limit on investigations.

大大扩展DOL的审核和调查权限：

• 允许DOL对任何H-1B雇主进行合规性调查或年度审核。
• 要求对所有雇佣超过100名H-1B员工（如果占其雇员超过15％）的雇主进行审核。
• 允许基于匿名来源进行调查，而不因员工或其他受害方的投诉。
• 允许DOL根据LCA中的信息进行审核或调查。
• 消除了劳工部部长亲自证明对H-1B调查存在合理原因的要求。
• 取消了调查的60天期限要求。
  • Comments: Currently, H-1B audits are based only on complaints or other verified, non anonymous sources that come to the DOL from people DOL knows would have knowledge of an H-1B violation. According to DOL, this latter authority had never been used as of this year, so H-1B audits have exclusively been based on complaints. Congress imposed these restrictions because it wanted to limit the authority of DOL to conduct meritless investigations. These provisions would allow DOL to target employers for audits without any reason to believe a violation has occurred. This is yet another burden in an already burdensome and expensive process.
  • 评论：目前，DOL 启动H-1B审核仅基于：1.违反H-1B流程的知情人员投诉；或2.其他经过验证的非匿名信息来源。根据DOL官方规定，后一项到今年为止从未被使用过，至此H-1B审核完全基于投诉。国会之所以增加这些约束，是因为它希望限制DOL自行开展无缘故调查的权限。这些规定将使DOL可以将雇主定位为审核对象，而无需任何相信发生了违规情况理由。这是本来已经很麻烦且昂贵的行政过程中的又一个负担。

20. Eliminates the protection from penalties for employers that made a good faith effort to follow the rules or that underpaid employees based on use of a prevailing wage methodology based on industry standards.

取消对雇主真诚遵守规则或基于基于行业标准的基本工资方法使用薪水不足的雇主免于罚款的保护。

• Comments: These harmful provisions are replaced with a benignly labeled “information sharing” provision on page 19.
• 评论：这些恶法条款已被第19页上贴上良性标签的“信息共享”条款所代替。

21. Triples the fines for H-1B LCA violations. Fines increase from $1,000 to $3,000 for non-willful violations, from $5,000 to $15,000 for willful violations, from $35,000 to $100,000 for displacement of U.S. workers.

对H-1B LCA违规处以三倍罚款。非故意违反的罚款从1,000美元提高到3,000美元，故意违反的罚款从5,000美元提高到15,000美元，导致美国员工失业的罚款从35,000美元提高到100,000美元。

• Comments: Adjustments for inflation since 1998 would not quite double the fine amounts, so these increases are clearly intended as more than an update to outdated statutory figures.
• 评论：自1998年以来的通货膨胀调整不至于导致罚款数额增加一倍，因此，这些加倍显然不仅是对过时法定数字的更新。