United States · Bill · S
S. 281 (115th)
Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2017
Introduced
2 February 2017
Last action
2 February 2017 · Introduced
Status
Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Sponsors
Sen. Lee, Mike [R-UT], Sen. Flake, Jeff [R-AZ], Sen. Blunt, Roy [R-MO], Sen. Collins, Susan M. [R-ME], Sen. Paul, Rand [R-KY], Sen. Harris, Kamala D. [D-CA], Sen. Moran, Jerry [R-KS], Sen. Heitkamp, Heidi [D-ND], Sen. Carper, Thomas R. [D-DE], Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR], Sen. Klobuchar, Amy [D-MN], Sen. Cantwell, Maria [D-WA], Sen. Portman, Rob [R-OH], Sen. Gardner, Cory [R-CO], Sen. Wicker, Roger F. [R-MS], Sen. Cotton, Tom [R-AR], Sen. Baldwin, Tammy [D-WI], Sen. Lankford, James [R-OK], Sen. Merkley, Jeff [D-OR], Sen. Duckworth, Tammy [D-IL], Sen. Bennet, Michael F. [D-CO]
Subjects
Immigration
Source updated
10 August 2026
Summary
Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2017 This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to: (1) eliminate the per country numerical limitation for employment-based immigrants, and (2) increase the per country numerical limitation for family based immigrants from 7% to 15% of the total number of family-sponsored visas. The Chinese Student Protection Act of 1992 is amended to eliminate the provision requiring the reduction of annual Chinese immigrant visas to offset status adjustments under such Act. The bill establishes the following transition period for employment-based second and third preference (EB-2 and EB-3) immigrant visas: for FY2017, 15% of such visas allotted to natives of countries other than the two countries with the largest aggregate numbers of natives obtaining such visas in FY2011; for FY2018, 10% of such visas allotted in each category to natives of countries other than the two with the largest aggregate numbers of natives obtaining such visas in FY2012; and for FY2019, 10% of such visas allotted in each category to natives of countries other than the two with the largest aggregate numbers of natives obtaining such visas in FY2015. The bill sets forth the following per country distribution rules: (1) for transition period visas, not more than 25% of the total number of EB-2 and EB-3 visas for natives of a single country; and (2) for non-transition period visas, not more than 85% of EB-2 and EB-3 visas for natives of a single country. Amendments made by this bill shall take place as if enacted on September 30, 2016, and shall apply beginning in FY2017.
This text is taken from the official record. PoliticalRepo does not editorialize.
Timeline
2 February 2017
Introduced
Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Source: IntroReferral
2 February 2017
Introduced
Introduced in Senate
Source: IntroReferral
Votes
No vote records are attached yet.
Versions
- Introduced in Senate · 2 February 2017 · Download file
Documents
3 official files
Introduced in Senate (text)
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Introduced in Senate (text)
Introduced in Senate · EN · 2 February 2017
Introduced in Senate (PDF)
Introduced in Senate · EN · 2 February 2017
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Introduced in Senate
summary · EN · 2 February 2017
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Sponsors
- Sen. Lee, Mike [R-UT] · R · Sponsor
- Sen. Flake, Jeff [R-AZ] · R · Cosponsor
- Sen. Blunt, Roy [R-MO] · R · Cosponsor
- Sen. Collins, Susan M. [R-ME] · R · Cosponsor
- Sen. Paul, Rand [R-KY] · R · Cosponsor
- Sen. Harris, Kamala D. [D-CA] · D · Cosponsor
- Sen. Moran, Jerry [R-KS] · R · Cosponsor
- Sen. Heitkamp, Heidi [D-ND] · D · Cosponsor
- Sen. Carper, Thomas R. [D-DE] · D · Cosponsor
- Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR] · D · Cosponsor
- Sen. Klobuchar, Amy [D-MN] · D · Cosponsor
- Sen. Cantwell, Maria [D-WA] · D · Cosponsor
- Sen. Portman, Rob [R-OH] · R · Cosponsor
- Sen. Gardner, Cory [R-CO] · R · Cosponsor
- Sen. Wicker, Roger F. [R-MS] · R · Cosponsor
- Sen. Cotton, Tom [R-AR] · R · Cosponsor
- Sen. Baldwin, Tammy [D-WI] · D · Cosponsor
- Sen. Lankford, James [R-OK] · R · Cosponsor
- Sen. Merkley, Jeff [D-OR] · D · Cosponsor
- Sen. Duckworth, Tammy [D-IL] · D · Cosponsor
- Sen. Bennet, Michael F. [D-CO] · D · Cosponsor
- · ssju00 · Standing
Related records
- related to → Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2017
- related to ← Startup Act
Sources
PoliticalRepo is an index and interpretation layer, not the authoritative legal source.
- Official source: https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/281
- Open data entity: https://api.congress.gov/v3/bill/115/s/281
- us · 115-s-281 · source updated 10 August 2026