U.S. House of Representatives passes STEM Jobs Act of 2012

WASHINGTON, 3 Dec. 2012. The U.S. House of Representatives, with a vote of 245 to139, passed the “STEM Jobs Act of 2012,” which would provide up to 55,000 permanent resident “green cards” each year to the top foreign graduates of U.S. universities with doctoral degrees in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Any remaining green cards will be made available to such graduates with master’s degrees in STEM fields.

Candidates for employment under the bill:

must have received the degree in question from an eligible U.S. university in a STEM field,

must have taken all their course work in the U.S.,

must be petitioned for by an employer who has gone through labor certification to show that there are not sufficient willing and available American workers who are as qualified as the foreign applicant for the position in question, and

must agree to work for five years for the petitioning employer or in the U.S. in a STEM field.

The 55,000 green cards would take the place of those currently granted under a “diversity visa” lottery system, which benefits immigrants from countries with low rates of immigration to the U.S.