H.R. 1044Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2020

1 recorded action192 of these members are on the 2026 ballotWhat the measure does Read on Congress.gov

Sponsor: Zoe Lofgren [D-CA-19]
Cosponsors: 311 · 172 Democrats · 78 Republicans
Policy area: Immigration
Committee: Judiciary Committee
Latest action: Dec 3, 2020 · Message on Senate action sent to the House.

IntroducedFeb 7, 2019
Passed the HouseJul 10, 2019
Passed the SenateDec 2, 2020
Sent to the PresidentNot yet reached
Became lawNot yet reached

What the measure doesCRS summary

Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2020

This bill modifies requirements related to employment-based visas, changes annual limits on certain visas, and contains other related provisions.

The bill increases the per-country cap on family-based immigrant visas from 7% of the total number of such visas available that year to 15%, eliminates the 7% cap for employment-based immigrant visas, and limits the percentage of employment-based visas which may go to an alien on an H-1B (specialty profession) or H-4 (family member of H-1B visa holder) nonimmigrant visa.

The bill establishes various transition rules for employment-based visas such as (1) reserving a percentage of EB-2 (workers with advanced degrees or exceptional ability) and EB-3 (skilled and other workers) visas for individuals not from the two countries with the largest number of recipients of such visas, (2) reserving a percentage of visas for certain immigrants with approved backlogged petitions, and (3) allotting a number of visas for eligible professional nurses and physical therapists.

The bill removes an offset that reduced the number of visas for individuals from China and also bars an alien affiliated with China's military forces from obtaining permanent legal resident status.

The bill also imposes additional requirements on an employer seeking an H-1B visa, such as (1) requiring an employer to provide certain information in a new application for such a visa, such as the qualifications and application process for the position; (2) prohibiting an employer from advertising that the open position is only available to an H-1B applicant or that an H-1B applicant is preferred; and (3) prohibiting an employer of a certain size from having more than half of its employees as H-1B or other nonimmigrant visa workers.

The Department of Labor shall create a publicly-available website where an employer seeking an H-1B visa shall post certain information about the open position to be filled by the H-1B worker.

The bill also expands Labor's authority to review and investigate H-1B applications for fraud or misrepresentations of material fact, whereas currently Labor is generally only authorized by statute to review applications for completeness and obvious inaccuracies. The bill also increases civil monetary fines for certain visa-related violations.

The bill also establishes a mechanism allowing an eligible alien (and the alien's dependents) to obtain authorization to work or travel outside of the United States, if the alien has an approved immigrant visa petition but is awaiting an immigrant visa to become available. Generally, this mechanism shall be available to an alien on an employment-based nonimmigrant visa who files an application with the Department of Homeland Security at least two years after the immigrant visa petition was approved.

How every member votedHouse roll call 437

House Jul 10, 2019

On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended

Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act

Passed · Two-thirds required

365 Yea 65 Nay 2 not voting

Crossed both parties 65 of 430 voting members broke with their own party: 8 Democrats, 57 Republicans.

Open the official roll call

How the chamber split

One dot per member. Select a seat or a bar to filter the list.

DemocratsRepublicansFilled: YeaRing: NayGrey: not voting or present

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All members432 members

Democratic234 members

Republican198 members

marks half of the votes cast. A party’s majority is the side most of its voting members took.

Cosponsors311 · 172 Democrats · 78 Republicans

Signing on is not a vote: a member can cosponsor H.R. 1044 and vote against it. 116 signed when it was filed.

Loading the public record

Who lobbied on H.R. 104459 organizations

Organizations that named H.R. 1044 in a lobbying disclosure. Only those that cited the bill by number appear, so this is a floor, not a full list.

BIPARTISAN POLICY CENTER ACTION

Housing · Transportation · Financial Institutions/Investments/Securities · Health Issues +7 more10 filings · 4th Quarter (Oct 1 - Dec 31) 2020Filing

COGNIZANT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS U.S. CORPORATION

Foreign Relations · Consumer Issues/Safety/Products · Education · Labor Issues/Antitrust/Workplace +5 more10 filings · 4th Quarter (Oct 1 - Dec 31) 2020Filing

TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATEDIts PAC: Texas Instruments Inc. PAC

Trade (domestic/foreign) · Transportation · Automotive Industry · Consumer Issues/Safety/Products +8 more10 filings · 4th Quarter (Oct 1 - Dec 31) 2020Filing

BUSINESS SOFTWARE ALLIANCE

Computer Industry · Homeland Security · Law Enforcement/Crime/Criminal Justice · Intelligence +5 more9 filings · 4th Quarter (Oct 1 - Dec 31) 2020Filing

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION (IBM)

Defense · Civil Rights/Civil Liberties · Trade (domestic/foreign) · Taxation/Internal Revenue Code +6 more9 filings · 4th Quarter (Oct 1 - Dec 31) 2020Filing

META PLATFORMS, INC. AND VARIOUS SUBSIDIARIES

Environment/Superfund · Government Issues · Labor Issues/Antitrust/Workplace · Science/Technology +13 more9 filings · 4th Quarter (Oct 1 - Dec 31) 2020Filing

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MANUFACTURERSIts PAC: National Association of Manufacturers PAC

Banking · Financial Institutions/Investments/Securities · Copyright/Patent/Trademark · Animals +33 more9 filings · 4th Quarter (Oct 1 - Dec 31) 2020Filing

TECHNOLOGY NETWORK AKA TECHNET

Banking · Defense · Financial Institutions/Investments/Securities · Taxation/Internal Revenue Code +13 more9 filings · 4th Quarter (Oct 1 - Dec 31) 2020Filing

COGNIZANT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS - U S CORPORATIONfiled by HECHT LATHAM SPENCER & ASSOCIATES, INC., FORMERLY KNOWN AS HECHT SPENCER & ASSOC

Labor Issues/Antitrust/Workplace · Immigration · Foreign Relations · Education8 filings · 4th Quarter (Oct 1 - Dec 31) 2020Filing

DELOITTE LLPIts PAC: Deloitte PAC

Health Issues · Defense · Veterans · Accounting +8 more8 filings · 4th Quarter (Oct 1 - Dec 31) 2020Filing

267 disclosures name this measure. Retrieved from LDA.gov on 2026-10-05. Senate Office of Public Records cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from LDA.gov.