On May 17, 2007, Democrat and Republican Senators have agreed to debate Senate Bill 1348 which if passed would make sweeping changes to the current immigration laws. A number of amendments have been voted upon and even more are waiting. The final version may look very different than originally introduced. A summary of some of the provisions of the Senate bill are listed here.

●The current Diversity Lottery Visa Program would be eliminated

●No Green Cards for brothers and sisters of US citizens

●No Green cards for adult children of US citizens

●The current employment based Green Card Program would be eliminated

●Increased Border Enforcement including 18,000 additional border agents, 200 miles of vehicle barriers, 370 miles of fencing, 70

●New "Z" visa
The "Z" visa would allow persons who were in the US before January 1, 2007 a probationary visa to work. The probationary work visa would remain in place until the US government finished a 300 mile fence along the Southern border with Mexico . Congress believes it will take 18 months for the US government to complete its border enforcement program. Once the border fence is complete, USCIS will allow probationary visa holders to apply for the "Z" visa. Once completed, the workers may apply for a 4 year work and travel visa which would be renewed another 4 years, for a total of 8 years. During the 8 years, the worker would need pay a $1,000 fine, pass a background check, remain employed in the US , maintain a clean criminal record and return to their home country for an application process. After the 8 years, the "Z" visa holder can apply for a green card. To apply for the green card, the worker must pay a $4000 fine, show s/he has learned English, demonstrate "merit" (meaning education, job skills and family ties to the US), and return to his/her home country until the green card applications currently filed are all processed. It would take approximately 13 years for a green card. Once a green card holder, it will take at least another 5 years before US citizenship, for a minimum of 18 years to become a US citizen. The cost for a single Z visa holder to legalize would be at least $8,500, and could be as high as $11,500. Z holders would not be permitted to sponsor spouses or minor children who are outside the U.S. as of January 2007.

●New "Y" Visa
Under this new temporary worker program, 400,000 employees may work in the US , but only 2 years at a time. Then they must return to their home country for 1 year. The workers may do this for up to 6 years of work. The worker could not bring his or her family

●New Green Cards through a merit system so that persons who are more highly education or have desirable job skills can apply for a green card. The new "point system" would be geared toward highly educated, English-speaking professionals. The point system contains no provisions for multinational managers, extraordinary ability aliens, outstanding professors or researchers, or those doing work in the national interest. There would be no labor market test to protect native-born workers.

●Family based applications which were filed before March 2005 would be grandfathered in and process as they would when filed. However, all would be processed within 8 years.

The American Immigration Lawyer's Association predicted time frame for possible presentation of a bill to President Bush for his signature is at least October 2007. If the Senate passed the bill and the House later passes a different bill, the two different bills would have to be reconciled and both the Senate and House would have to pass the final version, before it could be sent to the President to be signed into law. The Senate will return from its Memorial Day holiday recessed and resume debate on June 4, 2007.

Best regards,

JoAnn L. Barten
Barten Law Office, P.C.
P.O. Box 1604
1212 McCormick Ave., Ste. 100
Ames , Iowa 50010
515-233-4388
515-233-5911 FAX
www.bartenlaw.com