CURRENT AFFAIRS

Detailed explanation-1: -This week, the House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on the Equal Access to Green Cards for Legal Employment (EAGLE) Act of 2022. The EAGLE Act would eliminate a per-country cap on employment-based green cards - a policy that disproportionately affects Indian immigrants.

Detailed explanation-2: -US Green Cards: What is per-country cap all about? Under existing rules, the US issues only 140,000 green cards every year. There is a 7 per cent cap on every country. This translates into just 9,800 people per country for Green Cards.

Detailed explanation-3: -Effective Dec. 12, 2022, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is updating the USCIS Policy Manual to allow USCIS to automatically extend the validity of Permanent Resident Cards (commonly called Green Cards) for lawful permanent residents who have applied for naturalization.

Detailed explanation-4: -The EAGLE Act 386) that passed the Senate in December 2020. This bill would: Increase family-based per country limits from 7 percent to 15 percent. Eliminate employment-based per country limitations.

Detailed explanation-5: -Due to a low annual limit on employment-based green cards and a per-country limit of 7% from a single country, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) estimates that more than 2 million people from India will be waiting in the U.S. employment-based immigrant backlog by 2030.