fim oese ueso Wily ‘Sereane sas va0 Senecio rund Die. vous GREER) MARKET warn w Tu Ecoyomic Times | NRT = ere onions | €aper tide 9 teeth Will Indians soon see light at the end of the long sy bcos ‘Synopsis Green Card tunnel? ‘The green card backlog toucned 800,000 in 2019, wth over 60% ofthese being Indians On Dee. 2,2020, the US. Senate p Immigrants Aet-f0 elminate the 12 legislation = Fairness for Ha 9% per counteyecap on green card applicants, among led ther things, which would have ended the painfully long wait for thousanas of green card hopefuls RELATED For Indians, the road into the United States of America nas become clearer Can an HAB employee work from India? President Biden hands another win to H TS holders ang Indian stucents in the US ill he petition against HB visas harm you this year? Green Cards which provide lawful permanent residence in the United States can be obtained through certain family-based relations or via employment in the US. Under the employment-based route, 140,000 employment-based immigrant visas are available each fiscal year for foreign workers as well as their spouses and children. Further, the allotment of these visas is capped at 7% per country. Asa result of these caps, alarge number of Indian professionals who workin the U.S. primarily on H-1B visas, despite being approved for green cards, encounter extensively long wait times to get the green cards. In 2019, the green card backlog touched 800,000, with over 60% of these being Indians. As per many reports, the wait time is majorly attributed to the annual quota, which has remained unchanged since 1990. The per-country limit was enacted long before Indians became the largest beneficiaries of green cards due to the IT boom, post the millennium concerns in year 2000. Many US. business leaders believe that the backlog could push skilled Indian ‘workers out of the system and force them to pursue citizenship elsewhere. Unlock Exclusive Insightful, Riveting Business Stories INTHE sPoTLCHT » Impacton thevaccination pomaniatdainownore ‘een Cad: Whos elie and how to apply as or grea card Wil the popular EBS Regonal ener pogzamme survive? ‘Over 800,000 inian nationals in geen card backlogin US Indlansin Green Caré queue rohenett fom Joe Biden administration ‘Indian applicants rush to downgrade applications focpathotaser green card Top Trending Terms fer Agpreste yd inde) ( in ndethat more workers are able to get permanent residency. In August of last year, Senator Mike Lee from Utah had aptly remarked on the Senate floor, “If you're born anywhere else, anywhere else other than China; let's say in Ghana, Sweden, Indonesia, basically any other country other than India your application will be considered immediately. This sort of discrimination is simply inconsistent with the principles of a merit-based immigration system and with our founding principles and the principles that unite us as Americans.” ‘On Dec. 2, 2020, the US. Senate passed a legislation — Fairness for High- Skilled Immigrants Act - to eliminate the 7% per country-cap on green card applicants, among other things, which would have ended the painfully long ‘wait for thousands of green card hopefuls. But the legislation failed as its different versions of 2019 (H.R. 1044 and S, 386) passed by the House and Senate in July 2019 and December 2020, respectively were not reconciled prior to the end of the 116th Session of Congress. To be considered again, this legislation would have to be reintroduced in the new Congress, passed by both chambers with differences if any reconciled, and signed into law by the President, But the good news is that President Biden’s administration has committed to ‘working with Congress to address the long green card backlogs In fact, on his very first day in office, Biden sent a comprehensive immigration bill to Congress, which among other things, proposes to remove the per country cap for employment-based green cards. This bill - Citizenship Act of 2021 (the Bill) if passed into law will help thousands of Indian IT professionals stuck in the long green card queues, ‘The Bill proposes to clear employment-based immigration backlogs by teducing them altogether, eliminates the per country caps and prioritizes keeping families together and growing the country's economy. The Bill also seeks to do away with counting dependents towards the 7% country limit, thus freeing up thousands of visas that are granted to a spouse and children of the green card beneficiary. In an effort to protect children who very often “age out” before an immigrant visa becomes available to the parent and his family, the Bill also seeks to freeze the age of children (to remain below 21 years after ‘which they don't qualify as dependents) while they wait in the green card queue. While the Bill sounds promising, converting the propositions into law ‘will be an uphill task for the administration owing to the slim Democratic majority in Congress. That said, the White House, reportedly, is considering a secondary approach, which is doing it piece by piece, and so there's a chance that components of immigration reform could be moved through Congress one at a time, or in smaller packages. In the meantime, many Indians in the green card cue are opting for an EB- green card that requires an investment of at least US$ 900,000 in qualifying ETPrime Unlock Exclusive Insightful, Riveting Business Stories Coarse]main ones being, retrogression (resulting in another visa queue) and the potential end of the EB-5 Regional Center Program. Under the EB-S program, only 10,000 visas are given out each year and these are also subject toa 7% per country cap and family members are counted towards the cap. As a result, this visa option also gets backlogged for Indians from time to time. Indians seeking this visa category also stand to benefit if the per country cap, as envisaged in the Bill, is eliminated. ‘The Biden administration recently announced the initial registration schedule for FY 2022 H-1B cap filings. In response to this, as reported, an influential immigration advocacy group representing Indian-Americans has urged the administration not to issue H-1B visas to individuals born in India until the per country-cap on green cards is removed. According to this advocacy group, issuing new H-1B visas would bring to the U.S. more Indians aspiring for green cards and getting caught in the “industrialized process of wholesale exploitation.” The administration has not yet responded to this request and it’s not likely that it will hold off on issuing new H-1B visa to. Indians. Indians, particularly IT professionals continue to remain a valuable resource for the ever-growing US. unemployment were high in the US. during the pandemic, thousands of IT jobs remained unfilled. Also, there is no correlation between the H-1B and green card programs that could impact green card processing times. So, there is no immediate benefit to Indian nationals, waiting in the green card queue, if the H-IB program is closed to the Indians during the upcoming H-1B cap season. IT sector, Even when the rates of Poorvi Chothani, Esq, Managing Partner and Zeenat Phophalia, Esq, Associate Partner, both of LawQuest. (Disclsimer: The opinions expressed inthis column are that ofthe wer. The facts and opinions ‘xpressod hore da not reflec the views of warweconomietimes.cm) EAD MORE NEWS ON, 9 COMMENTS ON THIS STORY ‘Am Pm 9 ‘Seems Indian people are not believing in FEKU's acche din, Very bad Asingh 2 Good for Indians holding Green Cards have some hope of getting US Citizenship, Ajay hows ape Rules for Focused Success in @ Distracted World: aman .to/S7KKSQI r 1 oe 1 ETPrime Unlock Exclusive Insightful, Riveting Business Stories (Coarsev NEXT STORY ADVERTORIAL Social learning network an innovative path to new age learning Erspotlght Last Uadoted:Fob 202,125 AM IT Synopsis ‘The Study24x7 platform has been designed keeping the requirement of both educators and learners in mind. ks model has swo sides, one stom the perspective of educators \wheteas the other 's from the perspective of learners 2020 was the defining moment for Edtech. Although online learning was already becoming mainstream, the imposed lockdowns due to Covid-19 have brought about a paradigm shift about how Edtech offerings are perceived as well as used by students and parents worldwide. STUDeNT | Rac Another important change was rising into prominence of Social Learning ‘Networks like Study24x7. Although Social Networks have been around for quite some time now, the use of Social Networks in education is a more recent phenomena. Although the benefits of Social Learning are already established in many prominent learning theories such as Bandura's Social Learning ‘Theory, itis only recently that Edtech organizations like Ginger Webs have started incorporating it in their offerings eg. Study24x7 offered by Ginger Webs. What is the psychology behind Social Learning? Albert Bandura, one of the most famous psychologists to work on the social learning theory, stated four main stages of social learning Attention: According to social learning theory, internal and external factors play an important role in ascertaining whether the attention is increased or decreased. This means that the learners must pay full attention if they are ‘willing to learn something. Retention: Next is to absorb what has been learned and be able to remember it, Reproduction: Third step is to be able to reproduce what has been learned. ‘Motivation: This involves all the drive behind the process of imitating information. ETPrime Unlock Exclusive Insightful, Riveting Business Stories INTHE SPOTLIGHT Impact on the vacination rogram in India: now more EI Sustainable aehtectre: Not only energy efficent: ‘tis alo sbout natura esource conservation India shontists four banks for potenti privatisation: Sources South Aftia ase SI to take back mn Cov ET Baclsive: Samara Future signed term sheet ‘months prior RL deal annus ‘Tesla to start making leticvehclesin naa, ‘argoing sprawling market More Top Trending Industry TermsSocial Learning Networks incorporate all these steps during the learning process, thereby elevating the effectiveness of the learning process making it Jong term and reliable. Social Learning Networks: Changing the educational landscape for both teachers and learners Social Learning Networks bring both the educators and learners on the same platform. Since they elevate the natural processes of learning, they are more effective than the conventional classroom learning method. Moreover, they provide better hands on learning experience since learning is mostly done in an interactive environment using one to one as well as group discussions. It also provides more choice & greater control to the learners over their academic activities and the academic sources. Here are some ways through which Social Learning is changing the educational landscape: © Greater accessibility by bringing lessons and learning materials to mobile phones and laptops. © Eradicated geographical temporal boundaries. © Increased engagement because of better interaction among learners © Better self-organization skills in the students. ‘The Study24x7 model ‘The Study24x7 platform has been designed keeping the requirement of both educators and learners in mind, Its model has two sides; one is from the perspective of educators whereas the other is from the perspective of learners. ‘The Educator's Model © Opportunity to connect with thousands of learners from various educational backgrounds, class and age. © Secure and interactive platform to create adaptive live classes and VODs Interact better and solve student queries on the go during online live class with alive chat system © Adedicated course creating and selling platform © Courses can be created by using a variety of digital content such as videos, images, PDF and documents. © Establish a brand page amongst thousands of learners and get popularity for your brand name © Engage the learners/followers of your page with quizzes, mock tests and assorted study material. © Make learners participate in goal based learning through the feature of, Gamification and motivate them with rewards and points, ETPrime Unlock Exclusive Insightful, Riveting Business Stories© Access to free and paid courses on a variety of interests including competitive exams, government jobs and K12 © Well organized course content © More interaction and focused learning through live classes and VODs © Flexible and convenient learning environment © Unlimited questions and quizzes to answer on the question's wall © Real time solutions by mentors for all types of queries © Gamification- where learners earn points based on activities they perform (This article is generated and published by ET Spotlight team. 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