President Donald Trump on Wednesday supported a bill – “RAISE ACT”, which can drastically reduce legal immigration to the USA. The current employment-based visas would be replaced by a point system.
The point system is very similar to that used by Australia and Canada which involves awarding points to potential immigrants based on broad categories. The highest point-getters would be distributed the visas first out of the annual 140,000 visas available, under this system.
If Congress approves the bill, the ideal highest point-getting candidate would be a 26- to 31-year-old with a US-based doctorate or professional degree, who speaks nearly perfect English and who has a salary offer that’s three times as high as the median income where they are.
Below are the details of the point system proposed in the bill:
Age
Priority is given to the working ages of the applicant.
Education
The system grants points based on the highest degree the applicant has achieved.
Language Ability
A candidate’s English communication ability can earn him/her more points. This will be determined by a standardized English test.
Salary
Here, it can benefit those applicants with a job offer in the US comes in the form of salary in an effort to boost wages. According to the official figures released in 2016, the US median household income is $55,775.
Nobel Prize
If the applicant has won a Nobel prize or something “comparable”, then the system grants 25 points to the applicant for “extraordinary achievement”.
Olympics
An applicant with an individual Olympic medal or relatively competitive international sporting event can earn 15 points.
Investors
If the applicant invests $1.35 million into a “new commercial enterprise” in the US, maintained for three years, then he/she may be awarded 6 points. These points may go up to 12 points if the applicant is ready to invest $1.8 million.
Spouses
If the applicants want to bring a spouse with them, then the bill requires points to be calculated for their spouse under the same rubric.
